


High (School) Society

by TheOtherXOPrincess



Series: Glamour, Luxury, Money ... And Scheming [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: BadBoy!Finn, Completely AU, Decent!Rachel, F/M, M/M, McKinley is an Elite School, Minor Character Death, Multi, Princess!Santana, Stinking Rich!New Directions, Underage Drinking, Upper Class AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 49,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23229796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOtherXOPrincess/pseuds/TheOtherXOPrincess
Summary: Parties, money, luxury, glamour and scheming – This is McKinley Academy, the one and only highschool for upper class children of politicians, billionaires or otherwise powerful people. Everyone envies those teens attending the elite school, thinking they have it all, but are their lives really as picture perfect as one might think?Ever since Rachel somehow got into McKinley Academy , the glamorous school for high society kids, she and her friend tried to stay wallflowers in disguise. As long as she was invisible, her snobbish schoolmates couldn’t make her life a living hell. But then, she finds out a dark secret of Finn Hudson’s family, the unofficial king and playboy of McKinley. A secret which could ruin their reputation. Suddenly, the most powerful kid knows her name. The guy she was supposed to hate. But why does her foolish heart skip a beat everytime he comes near her?
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Finn Hudson & Kurt Hummel, Past Kurt Hummel/Adam Crawford (mentioned), Past Kurt Hummel/Chandler Kiehl (mentioned), Rachel Berry & Mercedes Jones, Rachel Berry/Finn Hudson, Santana Lopez & Brittany S. Pierce, Santana Lopez/Brittany S. Pierce (kind of)
Series: Glamour, Luxury, Money ... And Scheming [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670197
Comments: 15
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with another story! This time, it won't be fantasy, though. I will try to make it not too Finchel centric. This story is heavily based on the awesome, german novel "Save Me" by Mona Kasten. Hope you will like it!

Only one more year, Rachel thought to herself. That was her senior year at McKinley Academy. She still couldn't believe that next year, she would hopefully sit in one of the lecture halls of NYADA, one of the most famous, renowned US-universities of dramatic arts.

Not only famous Broadway artists, but also some Hollywood stars had attended that college.   
Although Rachel's dads were both accountants, they had supported her from the beginning on when the toddler declared that she wanted to be a star after she had seen her role model Barbra Streisand in the recorded musical "Funny Girl". Since today, that dream didn't change.   
It was the opposite, actually. Three years ago, Rachel had worked hard to get into her current school. McKinley Academy was one of the best High Schools in the US and also had one of the best arts programs. It was nearly impossible to get one of the few, hard-fought scholarships for this private school. 

The school fee was over the roof not only because of its elite-status, but also because people of the really, really rich upper class sent their kids to that school. Until now, Rachel was still afraid she would one day wake up and realize that she still attended her old high school and not McKinley Academy because she still couldn't believe she made it.

Currently, she was sitting in Biology classes, nervously waiting for the school bell ringing. Her classmates were working on their assignments, but she was done because she already did them the day before. Call her a nerd, but she wanted to stay a straight-A student. Rachel impatiently tapped with her fingers against her desk, but then, someone kicked her shin.

"Stop it, white girl. You are making me nervous", Mercedes, her seatmate, hissed.

"Sorry", Rachel mumbled.

Mercedes rolled her eyes and continued working on her assignment.

Since day one at McKinley, Rachel felt like an outsider.   
The kids of the high society were so much more different than her, with their fancy hobbies such as polo or Lacrosse or going shopping in that boutiques where one top costed more than both her dads earned per month.   
Rachel didn't even try to fit in, she knew how cruel teens could be once they found out you were not like them. Luckily for her, nobody knew who exactly was there because their parents could afford it or because of a scholarship. So, the best she could do was staying under the radar although she hated it.   
She always wanted to be in the limelight, but as long as she was different, it just wasn't possible. So she just had to get through highschool as a wallflower in disguise, then, things would change. She would be an even bigger star than Barbra Streisand and laugh at her former classmates who didn't accomplish anything.

But until then, she had to be invisible and avoid drawing attention to her because she could endanger her scholarship and her future. She had heard stories about scheming classmates and how they had made others get kicked out of school. No, she couldn't risk that, she had too much to lose.

"Mr. Sutton? I'm done, can I go now?", she asked her teacher and handed in her work.

Mr. Sutton nodded. "Of course, Ms. Berry. But please be quiet in the hallway, there are seven minutes left until the break starts", her teacher said.

Rachel nodded obediently, took her bag and left. While the brunette rushed down the hallway, she retrieved her calendar from her bag and checked her appointments.   
She had a short meeting with a teacher of hers in less than five minutes because he finished his recommendatory letter for NYADA.

Mr. Anderson was one of her most favorite teachers and quite popular among his students as well. He just graduated from Harvard on top of his class and wanted to help Rachel get into her dream college and get a scholarship. He told her that he also attended NYADA, but then, he discovered that teaching was his real passion. Since NYADA didn't offer a school of education, he was forced to change schools. Rachel checked her watch. Two minutes left until her meeting. She quickened her pace because she didn't want to be late. In addition to that, Mr. Anderson's office was on the other side of the building.

Finally, she stood in front of the teacher's door, slightly sweaty.   
Rachel straightened out some of her wrinkles of her blue-gold school uniform skirt, brushed nonexistent glint from her blue blazer, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Nobody answered it.

The brunette checked her watch. 1.30pm, she was just on time.

She looked to her side, but there were no students or teachers she could ask about Mr. Anderson's absence.

That was impossible.

Mr. Anderson was always there on time, he was even overly punctual. "Punctuality is a virtue", he always told his students when they came too late to his classes.

When Rachel was about to leave, she heard something fall down inside the office.  
So, there was someone inside. Why didn't he react, then?   
She carefully opened the door and peeked around. Her heart skipped a beat.

Mr. Anderson was there, but…he wasn't exactly alone. There was another guy in front of him, kissing him passionately while Mr. Anderson sat on his desk.   
Said guy grabbed Mr. Anderson by his bowtie, pulling him closer and moaning into the teacher's lips, Mr. Anderson buried his hands into the guys hair.

Rachel really wanted to throw up right now.   
Yes, she kind of knew that Mr. Anderson had to be gay, because seriously, which girl who grew up with two gay dads didn't have a perfect gaydar? But what she witnessed now was something she really didn't want to see.   
She wanted to look away, but she just couldn't, her eyes were glued to the spot. The guy jumped on top of Mr. Anderson, both of them fell down on the desk and they kissed like their lives depended on it.

"Gosh, Blaine", the guy purred, and Rachel paled. "Please, please, give it to me", he moaned quietly, but Rachel could hear it anyway.

She really started to feel sick right now.

After that moment, everything happened so quickly.   
Still shocked, she lost her balance, somehow tripped over the threshold and opened the door completely.   
Now, she was standing on the doorway, her face was redder than the chili sauce Mercedes liked to eat with her tater tots.

Both men quickly jumped apart, Blai…, _Mr. Anderson_ , Rachel reminded herself, looked over to her.

"Rachel", he said breathlessly.

His otherwise impeccable, gelled back hair was tousled, some of the buttons of his shirt where open, his face was red. Rachel gasped. That was supposed to be her dapper, disciplined teacher? She couldn't believe it. 

"I…I'm sorry.", Rachel stammered, still shocked. "I…I thought we had a meeti…"

At that moment, the other guy turned around and Rachel stopped talking, even more shocked than before. His blue eyes were widened, and he and Mr. Anderson exchanged worried glances. Rachel tried to remember how to breathe again.

She knew that guy.

She had seen him a lot.

In her English-classes _they shared with_ _Mr. Anderson.  
_

That guy who just made out and almost had sex with her…their freaking teacher was none other than Kurt Hummel.

His carefully styled hairdo was ruined, his already pale face even paler than usual. He sheepishly looked down the floor, but Rachel was too panicked to care.

She was so screwed.

She tried to push the delete button in her brain to forget everything that happened in the last ten minutes, but it was impossible.   
Could someone shoot her right now, please? Or could the floor underneath her swallow her whole?

Blaine… _Mr. Anderson, godammit_ , Rachel corrected herself in her head, took a step towards the brunette.

"Rachel…", he started, but she didn't listen.

Like on autopilot, Rachel backed away, turned around and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.   
She could hear Mr. Anderson shouting her name, but she didn't turn around. All she could see was the scene with those two making out, again and again.   
Rachel sighed. She made it through three years without unwanted attention, her last year was supposed to go without a hitch as well. And then she uncovered a dirty secret of one of the most popular, powerful kids in school.

God was really doing a good job on punishing her with no reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this somewhat crazy story, that means a lot to me :D  
> Without further ado, here comes chapter two! (No pun intended :P)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Finn's head hurt like hell when he woke up. A slump body was lying next to him. A body with short, blond hair. Finn groaned.  
He honestly didn't remember leaving Mike Chang's party yesterday…or rather today.  
Actually, he didn't remember anything after he had started drinking whisky like milk. He only remembered him and Quinn making out, but he didn't remember having slept with her anymore. Finn cursed under his breath when he remembered something.

Puck would kill him.

Quinn and Puck knew each other since they were toddlers and he always treated and protected her like a younger sister. For some reason, he didn't want Finn to have sex with her although he was the biggest man whore Finn ever knew.

Maybe, he was just too overprotective.

Finn slowly turned to the dresser next to him and checked the time.  
It was 2 pm and he was supposed to be in school now.

Whatever.

Next to him, Quinn mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep and turned to the other side.  
Finn slowly got up and sneaked out of Mike's guest room. He really needed a shower and some clothes which didn't smell like a cat vomited on them.  
Seriously, what happened yesterday to make them smell like that?

Finn carefully went down the ivory stairs of the luxury foyer which was covered with empty Vodka-bottles, cups, plates with some leftovers of snacks and even some bras. The air smelled like alcohol and smoke.  
Obviously, people were partying there until sunrise. Hungover, Finn stumbled to the living room.

No, living room would be the wrong word for this hall. His parents preferred the word "parlor".

Anyway, he met Sam and Artie at the parlor.  
Sam was sleeping on the expensive, cream colored cushion sofa of the Changs, snoring a little.  
Artie was sitting on the matching armchair on the other side, his wheelchair next to him. A blonde was on his lap, most likely Kitty Wilde or Brittany Pierce.  
Finn couldn't tell because she was kissing him passionately and he couldn't see her face. When Artie pulled away from her for a second and spotted a hungover Finn, he threw his head back and laughed. While passing him, Finn flipped him the bird.

He opened the sliding glass-door of the terrace and went outside. The sun was blinding him, and he squinted. Stupid hangover. He looked around. The giant garden was covered with trash of the party and it looked even worse than inside. Finn went over to the pool where Mike and Puck were lying on their sunbeds with sunglasses.

When Mike spotted him, he sat up and put down his glasses.

"Good morning, Hudson!", he greeted him, grinning widely. There where dark circles around his eyes, so he must be just as hungover as Finn.

"Did you enjoy the night?", the host asked him, cocking his eyebrows.

"I honestly don't remember", he answered, avoiding looking over to Puck. His best friend must be fuming.

"Fuck you, Hudson", Puck hissed without looking at him.

Finn expected that Puck would react like that. "She wanted to do it, not the other way around. You can't decide who is allowed to have sex with her and who isn't. Quinn isn't six anymore", he answered, unimpressed.

Puck groaned and ruffled his mohawk, conflicted. Finn crossed his arms and waited.

"But don't even think about breaking her heart", his best friend finally said.

Mike cocked his eyebrows. "After Puck gave you his blessing, will we hear wedding bells soon?", the Asian boy asked, smirking even wider. Finn smacked him on the back of his head.

To be honest, his grandparents wanted to see him engaged with Quinn Fabray, or any stinking rich daughter of wealthy parents. But he was eighteen, for god's sake. He had better things to do than to look for a possible fiancée, his football team for example.

Puck didn't look thrilled, either. He glared at his friend, but Finn started smirking.

"Do you have a problem with that? You don't want me to marry your 'little sister'?", he asked, airquoting sister. Puck got up from his sunbed, stepping closer to him. Finn shuddered slightly. He knew how fast and strong Puck could be if he wanted to.

"Dude don't even think about it, I'm warning you", Finn said. "Well, I also warned you, man. But obviously, you didn't care."

With that, Puck pushed him, and Finn fell backwards into the pool behind him.  
Underwater, Finn's headache felt even worse than before. He sank down to the ground, counting the tiles of the ground. Down there, it was so peacefully calm, and he was alone.  
Half a minute passed, and he slowly ran out of air, but he didn't care.

Thirty seconds, thirty-five secs…

Puck jumped into the pool, grabbing Finn by the arm and pushing him to the surface.  
When Finn saw his best friend's shocked face, he had to laugh, gasping for air.

"Dammit, Hudson!", Puck shouted, slightly angry and leapt at him with his fists.  
Mike amusedly watched while his two friends beat each other up halfheartedly.  
Finally, Finn grabbed Puck, lifted him and threw him into the water. Puck landed with a loud splash. When he resurfaced, he glared daggers at Finn.

"You're one dead motherfucker, Finn!", he threatened, splashing him with water. Finn wiped his eyes, still laughing.

"Sorry, man", he said. "Forget it", Puck grumbled, but was smiling a bit. So now, they were even.

"Finn?", another voice said coyly.

Finn turned around.  
On the edge of the pool, he could make out the designer shoes of his stepbrother, he was covering the sun.

He hadn't been at Mike's party yesterday, and for a split second, Finn thought that he was there to call him out because he and his bros skipped classes today.  
But then, Finn inspected his face a little more, and gasped. His shoulders were slumped down, he was paler than usual. Finn quickly swam to the stairs, climbed out and went over to his brother.

Kurt's eyes were swollen and red, he must've cried a lot. Finn felt faint all of a sudden.

"What happened?", he asked, concerned.

Kurt wiped his eyes. "Finn", he whispered, sniffing. "I messed up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Kurt...


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The next day at school, Rachel felt a bit paranoid.

She tried to concentrate during classes, but she just couldn't. In the breaks, she was scared to meet Mr. Anderson or Kurt in the hallways, so she was practically sprinting from classroom to classroom.

Mercedes, one of her few friends, was looking at her weirdly, so Rachel tried to get her act together.  
She was too tired to think of an excuse because that scene haunted her in her dreams, causing her to wake up often. Besides, she told Mercedes about the appointment with Mr. Anderson, and she didn't know how to explain to her that she didn't have the recommendatory letter yet.

Before lunch break, the two girls headed to the secretary to take their posters for the Back-To-School party they wanted to hang up in the whole building.  
They had designed them in the event management club of the school which Rachel and Mercedes were leading.  
McKinley was famous for its legendary parties, they celebrated really everything: Back-To-School Parties, School's out parties, Halloween, Foundation Day, Christmas, New Year, Eastern, Independence Day, Principal Figgins' birthday,…

The budget of the event management team was enormous, but Principal Figgins told them that it was totally worth it.  
With their parties, McKinley wanted to attract rich parents of future and current students, making them donate tons of money to the school so that they could send their students to elite universities directly.  
Indeed, top universities such as Yale or Harvard were practically begging the kids of McKinley to choose their university with advertising campaigns.

When Rachel came to McKinley, she was forced to choose some extracurricular activities, other than at her former highschool where nobody cared.  
She decided to choose only glee and event management because she was already a little bit overworked with the new workload of McKinley.

She never expected to have fun organizing events or that she would be co-captain of the club with Mercedes two years later.  
Mercedes grinned proudly when they were done hanging up the posters.

"Those look great, white girl", she praised, looking at the silver and golden posters they had designed some sleepless nights.

Now, that they were done, the two then went to the luxurious cafeteria to eat their lunch. The majority of students was already done eating, only a couple of tables were occupied. While Mercedes was devouring her beloved tater tots, Rachel poked her tomatoes in her tuna-salad, looking around anxiously.  
Kurt Hummel was nowhere to be seen, luckily for her.  
Nevertheless, she looked down her salad, trying to hide her face somehow.

"Are you okay, Rachel?", Mercedes asked her, concerned.

Rachel nodded. "Yes, yes I am." The black girl nodded, but still looked skeptical.

Rachel remembered how she and her became friends.

Their start was rather rocky, to be honest.

Just like Rachel, Mercedes was there because of a full-time scholarship. Some talent scouts of the school wanted to offer her one after they had heard her singing in the church.  
Because she was "only" in the middle class with her parents being dentists, she quickly became an outsider as well. She signed up in glee club, which was paradoxically not that popular at McKinley, where she and Rachel became immediate rivals because they fought over the soli.  
Even worse news, Mercedes was in the event management club as well where they were also fighting.

When the captain of the club graduated, both, Rachel and Mercedes were voted as co-captains, much to their annoyance. Their fights got even worse because they had different point of views and were both too stubborn to give in.

However, everything changed one fateful afternoon after glee.

When Mercedes wanted to wash her hands, she had caught Rachel breaking down and crying in the girl's bathroom. Too depressed to fight with her and having lost any dignity, the brunette admitted to her rival that she felt lonely and even more like a loser since she transferred. Her old, few "friends" didn't even care when she just called them and begged them to help her. They had made clear that didn't want to have anything to do with her anymore.

Instead of making fun of her, like they always did of each other, Mercedes also sat down on the floor and took her in her arms, suddenly sad herself.  
She admitted that she felt the same way and was crying herself to sleep, day by day. The two of them were sitting on the cold toilet floor, crying their eyes out together for a while, and Rachel even felt less miserable.

After their eyes were swollen and their heads hurt like hell, Mercedes cleared her throat.

"You know, white girl, instead of fighting over everything and making each other's already crappy lives even shittier, we could be…friends. My Beyoncé-like swag and your Barbra-like glam would be awesome together. How does that sound to you?", she sniffed.

Rachel nodded, wiping away some tears. "Sounds good. Let's be friends", she croaked and handed her new friend one of her glitter Barbra Streisand handkerchiefs.

Since that day, the two girls befriended and finally stopped fighting over everything. They took turns to sing soli at glee and lead the event management club together instead of against each other, trying to respect each other's opinions.

Rachel was pulled out of her reverie when Mercedes nudged her. "Earth to Rachel! Good, she is not dead. Look, about glee, we need to…" She trailed off and her eyes widened.

Someone was sitting down next to Rachel.

The brunette cocked her eyebrows when her friend looked back and forth between her and the person sitting next to her. Rachel slowly turned her head- and looked into dark brown, almost black eyes.

Finn Hudson just sat down next to her.

The one and only Finn Hudson.

Finn Hudson, the king of McKinley.

His posture was poised, he radiated powerfulness. The school uniform fitted his body perfectly. Probably because his grandmother designed it. Other than his brother's impeccable hairdo, his hair was slightly tousled.

"Hey", he said.

A lot of students were looking at their direction. Rachel felt faint. So much for staying invisible. That was not good. Her wallflower in disguise plan was slowly falling apart.

"Mercedes, right? Would you mind if I kidnapped your friend for a while?", Finn asked her friend, not looking away from Rachel for a second.

The brunette desperately looked over to Mercedes, pleading her with her eyes to do something. Mercedes, however, was too shocked about the fact that Finn freaking Hudson just talked to her.

"No", she croaked. "You can go."

Rachel somehow grabbed her bag and numbly followed Finn out of the cafeteria.  
Finn lead her to a deserted hallway, stopped and turned to her. Rachel could imagine what he wanted. He never even looked at her all the years, so it must have something to do with his brother and Mr. Anderson.

"I think I know what you want from me", Rachel hissed.

Finn smiled a bit. "Do you?", he asked, amused.

Rachel's eyes narrowed. "Listen, Hudson…"

"I'm sorry, but I have to interrupt you, Raven." He took one stop towards the brunette, but she didn't back away.  
Instead, she cocked her eyebrows, unimpressed.

"You are going to forget everything you have seen, are we clear? If I find out you told someone, then I will make sure you're gonna get kicked out of school."

He then gave her something. Rachel looked down. There was a bundle of fifty-dollar bills. Rachel gasped.  
She had never held so much money in her hands before.

She looked Finn straight in the eyes. His glance was smug, even arrogant. After seeing that, she got angry, angrier than ever before.

"Are you serious?!", she hissed and furiously held the bundle in the air. Finn sighed and thoughtfully retrieved another bundle from his jacket.

"Okay, but ten thousand are enough." Stunned, Rachel stared at the money, then at Finn.

"If you stay quiet about it until the end of the term, we can double up the amount. If you do it until the end of the school year, you can have the quadruple amount."

The more Finn talked; the angrier Rachel got.  
How dared he?  
Thinking that he could make her shut up because of money. A bunch of money people worked hard for to _nourish their families_.

That's why she didn't like people like Finn Hudson. No, that was underrated.

She freaking _hated_ him.

Everything about him and what he stood for. How he lived without a care, just because mommy and daddy had billions of dollars on their accounts.  
People like Rachel or her friend Mercedes, however, had to work hard to get into a school like that so that they had slight chances to get into good colleges, but for him, high school was just a walk in a park.

That was so freaking unfair!

While realizing that, Rachel got even angrier.  
Livid, she ripped open the ring which held together the dollar bills.

Finn frowned confusedly. "What the…" Rachel lifted her hand and threw the money in the air. Not wanting to wait for Finn's reaction, she turned on her heel and stormed off. Finn just gaped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please like, comment or whatever xD


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update, yay! Thanks to everyone reading my story, that means a lot to me xD
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Rachel was sitting in her classes, glaring on Kurt's back of head, who was sitting in front of her.  
That whole thing was his fault! Why did she catch them make out? If she had been late that day, Kurt wouldn't have run to his big brother.

Then, she wouldn't be furious because Finn called her _Raven.  
_

Or that she had thrown _five thousand dollars_ in the air like bread.

Rachel groaned inwardly. Finn couldn't expect that he could buy her silence. But on the other side... forty thousand dollars were a lot of money. Don't get her wrong, Rachel wasn't poor, but her dads always wanted to buy that nice holiday house in Florida, at the beach.

Or a new car.

Rachel ruffled her hair frustratedly. She would never, ever accept his hush-money, like ever.

In order to distract herself, she took out her calendar with her appointments.

She still didn't take the recommendatory letter from Mr. Anderson. Rachel glanced over to the front.  
Mr. Anderson was standing in front of the whiteboard.  
He wore cream colored pants, a bright blue shirt, a black blazer and a red bowtie.  
He looked like such an innocent teacher.  
Suddenly, her classmates laughed. Apparently, Mr. Anderson was telling a joke. That was one of the reasons she had liked him.

Now, she couldn't even look at him anymore.

Rachel didn't get it – Mr. Anderson was good enough to graduate from Harvard, could teach at one of the best schools in the US, and the first thing he did was humping one of his students.

What the hell was wrong with him!?

He noticed Rachel staring at him, and his face fell.  
Kurt in front of her stiffened, visibly doing everything to not turn around.

For the rest of English classes, Rachel decided to look down her calendar. When the bell went off, Rachel sighed contentedly.  
As slow as a turtle, she put her books and her pens into her bag. When she realized that the majority of students had already left the room, she looked up.  
The only other people in the room where Kurt and Mr. Anderson.  
The teacher nervously arranged his things, Kurt warily looked back and forth between Mr. Anderson and Rachel.  
The brunette slowly lifted her bag, went to the desk of Mr. Anderson and stopped right in front of it, looking at her teacher. He looked at her, a little bit desperate.

"Kurt, would you please leave the two of us alone?", he asked without looking away.

"But…"

"Please.", he said softly. With narrowed eyes, the chestnut-haired student nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

Mr. Anderson turned back to Rachel. He opened his mouth to say something, but Rachel was faster.

"I wanted to take my recommendatory letter for NYADA", she quickly said.

He blinked, bewildered, and needed some seconds to react. "I…of course, Rachel."

Hectically, he searched through his folder, where he kept his documents. Finally, he found what he searched for and handed her a paper with trembling hands.

"That's a copy", he mumbled nervously. "I wanted to talk about it with you, but after…" He cleared his throat.

"I already uploaded it because I didn't know if you still wanted to take it." Rachel took the paper, looking down. "Thank you", she croaked.

That was slowly getting awkward.

"Rachel, I want you to know that…"

"Don't", she hoarsely cut him off. "Please…don't"

"Rachel…" The brunette could see the regret in his eyes, but also…fear. He was afraid of her. Or rather afraid of what she would do with the information she had about him and Kurt.

"No", she said, lifting her hands in surrender. "I'm not planning on telling anyone about what I've seen. I…I just want to forget everything."

Like a fish, he opened and closed his mouth. He looked surprised, but also somewhat skeptical.

"It's none of my business. Or anybody's business", Rachel added. Mr. Anderson incredulously stared at Rachel for a while, but she didn't look down.

Finally, he whispered: "You are aware that I will stay your teacher."

Of course Rachel was aware. And the prospect of spending hours with Mr. Anderson and Kurt in the same room, week per week, was not that pleasant. But the alternative would be going to Principal Figgins and after that whole thing with Finn Hudson, she wasn't so keen on it.  
Besides, the private and love life of her teacher really was none of her business.

"I just want to forget that whole thing", Rachel admitted.

Mr. Anderson cocked his triangularly shaped eyebrows. "And there… are no conditions?", he asked.

When he saw Rachel's disgusted face expression, he leaned back on his desk, nervous. "Not that you would need it, you are one of my best students, you know that. I just thought…I…" He didn't find the right words. Nervously, he played with his bowtie, his cheeks were reddened.

Rachel tried to smile, but she couldn't. "I just want to graduate without trouble, Mr. Anderson", she said, lifting her bag. When he didn't answer, she went to the door. She looked over to him before leaving.

"Please don't treat me different", Rachel begged. Mr. Anderson just stared at her with eyes wide open, saying nothing. He gulped audibly.

"Thank you for the recommendatory letter."

The teacher just nodded numbly. Rachel turned around and quickly left the room. After she had closed the door behind her, she leaned against the door, slowly breathing in and out. Then, she noticed someone leaning against the opposite wall.

Finn Hudson.

Of course.

His arms were crossed, his gaze on her was ice-cold.

He slowly went over to her, eyeing her up and down. He looked somehow menacing with his height and his threatening glance.

Rachel's heart stopped beating. That was his territory and she felt like an intruder right now.  
He stopped right in front of her.  
He looked down on her without saying anything, and for a split second, Rachel forgot how to breathe properly.  
He smelt so good. Like…coconuts. What aftershave did he use?

Finn wanted to retrieve something from his blazer pocket. Rachel then composed herself and started glaring.

"I swear, if you want to give me more money, then I'm gonna push it down your throat", she hissed. His hand stopped, and then, he took it out of his pocket. He glared at her as well.

"Stop acting like you were Mother Teresa or something, and just tell me what you want from my family", he said calmly.

"I want nothing from your family", Rachel answered. "Just... leave me alone. And just for your information: Mother Teresa would've taken the money and given them to the poor people, you know. Altruism and stuff."

Finn looked pissed right now. "You're finding that funny?", he asked, not even trying to hide his anger.  
He stepped even closer so that their toecaps were touching each other.

If he came even closer, Rachel swore that she would kick him in the crotch, she didn't care about his damn reputation.

"I don't want any problems with you, Hudson", Rachel said calmly . "Or with your brother. And I really don't want your money. The only thing I want is to finish this school year, easy as that."

"You really don't want our money", Finn repeated, incredulously. Rachel nodded slowly, almost annoyed. "No, I don't.", she clarified, looking straight into the quarterback's eyes.

Was he really that slow? Maybe he would believe her if she repeated it like a mantra or something.

Finn was looking thoughtful, he was frowning. What was he thinking about? When he looked back up, he looked…understanding?

"I get it", he sighed. He looked around in the empty hallway. "Where do you want it?", he asked. Rachel had no idea what he was talking about.

"What?", she asked, confused.

"Where you want it", he repeated, scratching his head.

"I think, one of the tutor's rooms over there is empty now. I have a universal key" He looked at Rachel, studying her face. "Are you loud or something? Ms. Pillsbury's office is right next to it, she usually works longer."

Rachel cocked her head to the side, clueless. "What the hell are you talking about?", she asked, completely oblivious.

Finn sighed deeply. "Listen, I also know the I-Don't-Want-Your-Money method." Finn grabbed the brunette's wrist and dragged her to the next door of an empty room. Rachel was too confused to prohibit that. He looked down his bronze, expensive looking watch.

"My football training is starting in a few minutes, so it would be cool if we could be fast" He started undoing his buttons and undid his tie. When she spotted his muscles, Rachel's heart skipped a beat.

 _Goddammit! Get your act together, Rachel_ , she ordered herself. She took a deep breath.

"Are you nuts?!", she hissed. Finn looked at her, unimpressed.

"Don't pretend you don't know how things go down here at McKinley", he said. "

You are crazy if you think you can make me shut up with physical services. Who the hell do you think you are, you arrogant, horny snob?!", she scoffed.

Finn blinked, confused. He opened his mouth and closed it again. "What is wrong with you?", Rachel ranted, shaking her head. Finn snorted. "Everyone has his or her price, Raven. What is yours?"

"My name is _Rachel_ , for god's sake!", she hissed, angry. "You just have to leave me alone, that's my price. I don't want to be seen with you."

Finn glared at her, equally furious. " _You_ don't want to be seen with _me_?", he asked incredulously. Rachel should be even more angry because of that, but she almost took pity on him.

Almost.

"It's enough that you talked to me in the cafeteria. I don't want to be part of your world."

"My world?", he repeated.

"You know…parties, alcohol, drugs and all that crap. I don't want that."

Suddenly, they heard some steps. Rachel's eyes widened when she looked over to Finn whose buttons and tie were undone.  
That situation could lead to a misunderstanding.

Quickly, she pushed Finn to the room in front of them and slammed the door shut behind her. The sound of steps got louder and louder, but then, they vanished. Relieved, Rachel sighed.  
"You are serious, right?", Finn asked.

"Yes.", Rachel answered. "So, please, close your shirt"

Finn slowly followed orders. Rachel checked her cheap, baby pink watch. "Good. Now, I have to go home, my dads are awaiting me." Rachel backed away, awkwardly waving at Finn to say goodbye and turned around.

"I still don't trust you.", Finn said coldly.

Trying not to show how these words had touched her, Rachel turned the doorknob. "That feeling is mutual, believe me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, we will get to know Finn's friends more.  
> See you nxt chapter, guys ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so...overwhelmed because there were so many nice comments and messages.
> 
> Thx so much, guys!
> 
> You are AWESOME!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The atmosphere was tensed, the air smelled like sweat.

These were the minutes before Coach Beiste allowed them to run out to the football field. Finn could hear the Cheerios and their fans cheering outside, but also the fans of their opponents.  
Unbelievable that four years ago, nobody cared about the football team.

Everyone insulted that game as being "barbaric" and for the poor ones who couldn't afford playing a more luxurious game. Those who were not good enough for Lacrosse or soccer were directly sent to the football team, the team for unathletic, unmotivated losers. Of course, that team had been bad as well.

Finn, wanting to rebel against his hated grandfather who was in charge of him and his brother from that time on, decided to sign up for it to piss him off.

But he never expected that he would actually like football.

Or that he decided a few weeks later to try everything to make football at McKinley great again.

He convinced his bros to sign up as well, and blackmailed Figgins with the anger of his parents and grandparents to give them a better trainer. From his grandparents' fashion enterprise (and with Kurt's help as well), he got new designs for their football shirts.

That was the first time in his life that he really was passionate about something. And it totally payed off: today, four years later, after hours of hard training multiple times a week, blood, sweat, tears, some broken bones and a lot of won tournaments, they were the stars at McKinley.  
After McKinley's renowned arts-program, the school was also famous for its great football team, disproving the rumor that "snobs" were too fragile for a sport like that.

Every time, Finn was so proud to see the determined faces of his team.

Just like now.

However, something inside him ached when he realized something.

That was going to be the first game in his senior year.

After that season, football would be history for him.

"Are you okay?", Mike asked him, concerned. Finn pushed that thought aside. He had an entire year until that would happen, and he could do whatever he wanted to.

He forced himself to smile. "We are going to kick the Porcupines' asses!"

"Beauford is mine", Puck hissed angrily.

"I have unfinished business with that son of a bitch."

"Puck", Artie told him from Finn's left. He rubbed his nose which had been broken one year ago. "Just let it be.", he pleaded, throwing him a soft glance.

They had been talking about that a lot, and this time, Puck's answer didn't change as well.

"No."

Beauford, who unfortunately had the same forename as Finn, had punched Artie right into the face after their last game one year ago- right after Artie had taken off his helmet.  
Finn could remember how Artie fell out of his wheelchair.  
How the blood was sprayed from his nose on the floor.  
The minutes where he laid on the ground, unconscious.

Although Beauford hadn't been allowed to play for three games, Finn was still angry when he thought about how Artie's face was bleeding and got angrier after he had seen Beauford's stupid face some minutes ago. Obviously, Puck shared that sentiment.

Artie sighed. "Please don't do anything dumb, man", he pleaded and rolled to the entrance.

"You know him", Mike mumbled and smirked.

"I don't care if I'm not allowed to play anymore. Beauford will pay." Puck patted Artie's shoulder. Before he can put it away, Artie grabbed his hand and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'm serious."

Puck's eyes narrowed. "So am I."

The two of them were staring at each other, and the already tensed atmosphere was getting even tenser.

"Save that energy for the game", Finn ordered them, not as a friend anymore, but as their leader. Two furious pairs of eyes were looking at him, but before they could say anything, Finn clapped his hands.  
The team gathered around in the middle of the room.  
Coach Beiste, who just left the toilet, also joined her protégés, laying her arms around Finn, the leader and quarterback, and Sam, his substitute if the quarterback wasn't around.

"For some of you, this is going to be the last game this season, for the others, it won't. Our goal is the championship, boys", she declared. "Everything else would be inacceptable. Now go and kick those sissy boys' sorry asses!"

The Titans roared, motivated. Coach Beiste just knew how to motivate her team with a few words. "This is going to be the best season in the history of McKinley", Finn added, louder than the coach.

"Okay?"

The boys roared, louder than before, but apparently not loud enough for Sam.

"Okay?", the blond boy repeated, loudly.

This time, the roaring was so loud that Finn's ears almost hurt, that's how it was supposed to be. After that, they put on their helmets and finally went out to the field. The bleachers were full as hell. People were cheering when they entered the field, the Cheerios were performing. The ground was vibrating due to the music. Finn felt alive, more alive than ever before.

The teams went to the middle of the field, the coaches went to their respective sides. "This is going to be a good game.", Sam mumbled next to Finn, saying out loud was Finn was thinking.  
While the Titans and the Porcupines, their opponents, were waiting for their referees, Finn looked over to the bleachers. From his place, he couldn't recognize a lot of people, except of Kurt who was sitting with Quinn, Santana and Brittany, looking slightly disinterested. When Finn looked to the other side, he froze.  
There, standing next to Coach Beiste, was a familiar brunette.

_I don't want to be seen with you.  
_

The memories about it felt like a punch to his stomach.  
No one ever said something like that to him.  
Actually, it was the opposite. People wanted to be seen with him _at all costs_.

Since day one at McKinley, his schoolmates tried to catch his attention. That's how things were with the name(s) of his family.  
His mom's parents owned a chain of fashion boutiques for men's wear, Kurt's dad inherited a chain of car shops selling cars worldwide. Burt and Carole married when the boys were ten. Four years later, their parents decided to travel around the world for the management of their empire, leaving their sons in the boy's grandparents' care.

Hummel-Hudson was associated with power and riches.  
At McKinley, people thought that Finn could make his already wealthy schoolmates even richer. Finn stopped counting how many times people gave some sketches of men's wear to him.  
Or how many times they wanted his parents' phone numbers.  
Or how often people tried to be his friend to find out some gossip about him or Kurt they could sell to the media.

He grimaced when he remembered how he ate a donut on Mike's birthday party two years ago and the media somehow thought that the sugar on his nose had been cocaine. And that was only a harmless example.

Not to mention how much crap Kurt had to experience.

That's why Finn chose his closest friends carefully. Puck, Mike, Sam and Artie were not interested in his money - they had enough of it themselves.  
Puck's mom owned a chain of pool cleaning companies, Sam's parents were stock market multimillionaires, Mike's ancestors had been Asian royalty, and Artie's dad was a successful movie producer.

Everyone _wanted_ their attention.

Everyone except of…

Finn stared at Rachel. He was sure he had never seen her before that whole disaster with Kurt happened.  
Now, he was asking himself how that was possible.

_I don't want to be seen with you._

Everything about her was making him regard her with suspicion. That woman had watched his brother making out with a teacher. Finn was wondering what she was up to. Whether she wanted to wait for the right timing to drop the bomb. It wouldn't be the first headline about the Hummel-Hudson family.

_James Hudson's Affair with Twenty-year-old Woman_   
_Is Elaine Hummel Depressive?_   
_Finn Hudson Addicted!_

After a harmless business dinner with an employee, the media claimed that his grandfather had an affair, a fight between his grandparents was a depression all of a sudden, not to mention the aforementioned sugar-is-cocaine misunderstanding. Finn didn't want to know what the journalists would write about Mr. Anderson and Kurt.  
He continued staring at Rachel. She just retrieved a camera from her bag and started taking photos.  
The quarterback frowned. He didn't know what she would do next. Maybe he should've offered her more money. Or she wanted something else and was waiting for the right moment to demand it from him.  
He didn't like that their – especially Kurt's - fate was in the hands of that girl.

_I don't want to be seen with you._

Finn snorted.

They would see.

* * *

Football was a fast sport; Rachel didn't know where to look next.  
She should've known that without Mercedes, she would be lost. Usually, one of them took notes about what happened during the game, the other one took photos. But today, Mercedes couldn't come because she had a terrible cold and stayed at home. Rachel really didn't know how she could do those two things alone. But the blog about the football game was among the most read ones, and she couldn't just skip that game.

"God dammit!", Coach Beiste just shouted angrily so that Rachel flinched, startled.

She looked up to the field.

Noah "Puck" Puckerman was sprinting across the field with the football in his hands, deaf to the yelling of Finn or coach Beiste.  
One of the opponent players tackled him, but Puck didn't fall down.

He just stood there, ball in hand and glaring at his opponent. Suddenly, he lifted his hand and punched the other guy straight into the side.

Rachel gasped, surprised.  
Puck punched him a second time, this time right into his stomach.  
The guy screamed painfully and fell down his knees. Another teammate of the opponent tackled Puck to the ground and wanted to beat the crap out of him.  
Puck, however, started beating him up as well. The referee whistled, but all the other players needed to separate Puck and the other two players. Rachel heard Finn's angry voice; she could imagine that he had to be furious with Puckerman.

Next to her, Coach Beiste was cursing nonstop. "Holy crap" was the nicest curse word, all the others were definitely not PG-rated. The referee sent Puckerman off the field. He came over to the side of the field, took off his helmet and protective mask and threw both of them to the floor.

"What the hell was that, Puckerman?!", Coach Beiste ranted. Rachel backed away.

"He deserved it.", he answered calmly as if he didn't just beat up one…no, _two_ of his opponents.

"You are…"

"…not allowed to play for three games?" Puck shrugged nonchalantly. "If you think our team can win without me, okay."

Then, he just walked away without a care. When he caught Rachel staring, he stopped. "Is there a problem?", he asked, eyebrows cocked.

Rachel quickly shook her head.

The referee whistled, and the game started again. Rachel really didn't have a clue what was going on there. But damn, Finn Hudson was good. Really good, even. He was moving so…fast and …agile and…

"Whatcha doing?", Puckerman suddenly asked her. Rachel startled. Blog…yes, she was supposed to write it.

"I'm writing an article about that game for the _McKinley Blog_.", she explained, quickly taking some notes.

"What's the name of the defensive player who just talked Michael?"

"Harrison", Puck answered. "Could you let me stand there like a hero in your article?", he mumbled when Rachel noted _Harrison tackled Michael Chang to the ground_. The brunette cocked her eyebrows.

"You just beat up another player without a reason, how could I make that look good?"  
Puck's eyes narrowed when he looked over to Artie.

"Who says that I did it without a reason?" Rachel shrugged. "It just didn't look like you were giving that a thought."

Puck crossed his arms and quirked his eyebrows. "I have waited for months to beat the crap out Beauford, and when he was making fun of me and my friends on the field, I had the perfect occasion"

He looked over to her notes. "How can you read that later?", he frowned. Rachel wanted to protest, but he was right. Her otherwise perfect handwriting looked terrible right now.

"Normally, I do this with my friend", she defended herself, although she really shouldn't care what Noah Puckerman was thinking about her handwriting. "And it is not that easy taking photos and writing what happens during the game at once."

"Why didn't you just film the game?", he asked, genuinely interested.

Without a comment, Rachel lifted her camera she bought in the thrift shop.

Puck snorted. "Which century is that thing from?", he asked.

Rachel shrugged. "I honestly don't know."  
He furrowed his eyebrows, but then, he retrieved his iPhone from his pocket. "I don't have enough space on my phone to film the entire game, but enough to take some photos."

He unlocked his phone and opened the camera app. When he noticed Rachel staring at him, he laughed. "You need to watch the game, not me."

The brunette blinked, perplexed.

"You want to help me?"

Puckerman shrugged. "I don't have anything better to do at the moment anyway."

"That's…nice of you. Thank you." She tried not to sound too skeptical, but it didn't quite work. That situation was just so surreal. One of the most popular kids wanted to help her, one of Finn Hudson's clique, the clique who ruled the school.

What the hell?

During the game, she watched Puck from the corner of her eyes, but he really seemed take his new task serious. He took a lot of photos, every now and then shouting motivating things to his teammates or cursing at the opponents.  
Coach Beiste even came over to her to explain what just happened or why.

At the end of the game, the Titans had won. Coach Beiste pumped her fist in the air and cheered loudly. The audience left the bleachers, the Titans all went inside, passing Puck and giving him high fives. Well, almost all Titans. Artie just rolled inside without a comment. For a split second, Puck's face fell, and his eyes became darker. But then he blinked and started grinning again. Rachel frowned. What was that? Again, Puck caught her staring and cocked his eyebrows.

"Thanks again.", Rachel said quickly. "For the pictures"

"No probs." He saved the pictures in a document. "Just give me your phone number and I will send them to you."

Rachel took his phone, quickly typing in her number. Before she had typed in the last digit, she recognized a voice she knew too well.

"What are you doing?"

She looked up.

None other than Finn Hudson was standing in front of her. His hair was wet because of his sweat, he was holding his helmet in his hands.

"She is writing an article about the game for the _McKinley Blog_.", Puck answered for her. He took his phone back, looked at the number and the name. "I will send them to you later, Rachel."

"Thank you very much.", she said, preparing herself that he probably wouldn't. No matter how much he had surprised her in those minutes, he was still Noah Puckerman.

"I'm going to check how pissed Artie is", Puck said to Finn.

"Beyond pissed.", Finn said, glaring at him. "Just like me and all the others. I told you to leave Beauford alone."

"And I didn't do as you said", Puck shrugged.

"You may be the quarterback, Finn, but you are not my mother." It seemed like he didn't care what Finn was thinking of him, but when he went past him to go inside, he patted his shoulder, like an apology.

Now, Finn was looking at her, furious. "What do you think you're doing?", he asked, arms crossed.

"I don't know what you're talking about.", Rachel said, sounding braver than she was at the moment.

Finn laughed bitterly.

"Stay away from my friends, Rachel."

Before she could say anything, Finn turned around and went inside to his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The Back-To-School party organized by the event management club! But Finn(and Puck) planned something...
> 
> Stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"That party's lame." Sam took a sip from the hip flask and passed it to Mike who was leaning next to him on the luxurious stair rail.

Underneath them was the McKinley Hall, a ballroom for the pompous, pretentious events of the school.

This evening, it looked like there was a birthday party for a six-year-old. The decoration was playful, the buffet only offered alcohol free punch and hors d'œuvres with bows. The music was terrible. Finn honestly didn't know what the DJ was even doing. There were no transitions between the songs, it sounded like he just took a random playlist and pushed the shuffle-button.

Besides, the guests didn't even know what the dress code was. Some people were overdressed, some didn't dress chic enough.

All things considered, that party sucked.

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad.", Puck interrupted Finn's thoughts. "You are the only one who likes those parties", Artie said, rolling his eyes.

Puck just shrugged. "Because they are funny." Artie furrowed his eyebrows. He took the hip flask from Sam, took a sip and passed it to Finn.

"It's going to be funny, believe me." Finn took some sips, enjoying the burning feeling in his throat.

Sam looked back and forth between Finn and Puck. "You planned something?", he asked with eyes wide open. Finn just shrugged nonchalantly, but Puck couldn't quite control himself. His eyes twitched and he smirked mischievously.

"I can't believe it. You planned something, told _him_ about it, but not me?", Sam asked incredulously. "I'm one of your best buddies. That's treason!"

Finn smiled. "Treason?"  
He nodded eagerly. "Treason. A violation of the holy brotherhood that connected us for years."

"That's bullshit.", Finn laughed, and Sam boxed him in the shoulder.

"You need to see it, Evans. That surprise is going to be legendary.", Puck winked. Sam sighed deeply.

"Well, I hope so for you." He started slurring a bit, although he only had some sips of their Scotch.

Actually, it was a shame that the five friends had to enjoy their expensive Bowmore on the stairs instead of out of a crystal glass inside the Ballroom, but at the McKinley parties, drinking alcohol was not allowed for students.  
However, that didn't hinder the students to enjoy the party anyway and the teachers didn't even care or didn't say anything when they realized that their students have drunk alcohol.  
The worst punishment had been a warning. Finn's parents and grandparents were donating tons of money every year, the school had no other choice than to bend the rules.  
They had too much to lose to piss off Finn or his friends.

"Where is Kurt, now? Chandler asked me about him again", Sam said, groaning.

Chandler Kiehl was Sam's annoying cousin living in the mansion next to him.  
Chandler crushed on Kurt and since the two of them had a short-lived affair two years ago, he was starting to annoy Sam even more. Kurt, who just wanted to have fun, broke up after a few weeks – oblivious to the fact that Chandler fell head over heels and he broke his heart.  
Finn almost took pity on him.  
Especially because he knew from Sam that he didn't have another relationship since that happened. Apparently, he was still hoping that Kurt would one day come back to him.

"Doesn't that guy think about moving on or something? Is he really that dumb?", Puck laughed.

Sam looked at him, slightly offended. "Hey, that's still my cousin you are talking about. I'm the only one who is allowed to make fun of him", he frowned.

Finn grimaced. If Kiehl only knew… He could never find out that his brother was making out with that pathetic joke of a teacher.

Speaking of which, Finn really needed to talk to Mr. Anderson. That asshole should stay away from his brother, or he swore, he would make his life at McKinley a living hell.

Finn was furious because he didn't do it sooner. But to make sure that Rachel shut up was more important. Because he still didn't trust her.

Some days ago when he went to history with Kurt, they had met in the hallway. While Kurt stared down, Finn looked Rachel straight in the eyes. Her proud posture was catching his eye. She had clutched her documents, determined, head held high.

Finn looked out for her, leaning over the stair rails. Rachel stood next to the buffet with a clipboard, taking notes and talking to that black girl, Mercedes Jones, next to her. Mercedes pointed at the DJ, Rachel looked back down her clipboard, went to the DJ and talked to him. The DJ nodded. Realization dawned on Finn.

Oh, damn.

Rachel had to be part of the event management team.

He smirked mischievously. Well, that was going to be interesting.

The brunette went away from the DJ, wanting to walk back to Mercedes, but then, someone crossed her way.

Someone in a tuxedo.

Mr. Anderson.

Finn alarmedly looked up. What if those two were up to something? He really didn't think about that possibility. Maybe they could do something that could harm Kurt? He couldn't risk it.  
After their parents had left them at their grandparents' care to do those endless business trips, Kurt was all he had. He needed to protect him even if Kurt would be pissed.

"I don't need your protection, Finn, I can take care of myself. Please don't do anything stupid", he had told Finn back then at Mike's pool. Finn knew that Kurt was right, Kurt was the strongest person he knew, but he was also too proud to ask for help. Finn couldn't just sit there doing nothing.

He was Kurt's big brother, for god's sake; he couldn't help it.

Like on autopilot, Finn retrieved his phone from his suit jacket. He opened the camera app. The corner with Rachel and Mr. Anderson was dark.  
He had laid one hand on her shoulder, talking to her really closely. If Finn looked closer, he could see that they were talking about the list on Rachel's clipboard.

That looked harmless in real life.

Finn took some photos. If he cut off the clipboard and made some adjustments, the situation could be interpreted differently on the photos.  
You know, less harmless.

"Whatcha doing, Hudson?", Puck asked behind him, looking at his display.

"Make a back-up plan."

Puck frowned. "What has Berry ever done to you?"

Finn sighed deeply.

"Let's say she has seen something she was not supposed to see." Puck just looked at him for a moment, but then, he nodded.

"Okay."

"If she tells someone, Kurt will be in trouble."

Puck looked down to Mr. Anderson and Rachel who were still talking to each other. "I understand."

Finn started grinning naughtily when he looked over to the entrance of the ballroom. "My guests are here."

Puck smirked. "Showtime."

* * *

The party was a success. At 11 pm, the guests went around in the McKinley Hall, they were drinking and eating, talking and dancing.  
Until now, nothing went wrong, and Principal Figgins just congratulated her and Mercedes. Rachel was so contended, considering going to the dance floor for a while. But she just allowed Kitty and Ryder to dance a bit, and one of them had to look after the buffet, so that nobody mixed alcohol into the punch.

There were so many new faces on the dancefloor, but that made sense. The party's main goal was to bring together graduates, parents of current and future students and to find sponsors. After that came the students' amusement.  
Suddenly, the lights went out. So did the music.

Rachel froze, shocked and exchanged panicked glances with Mercedes. _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

She retrieved her phone from her bra and turned on the flashlight of her phone. That party had to be perfect. Nothing could go wrong.  
Even if the current-generator was not working – Mercedes and Rachel would be accountable, and Rachel could already hear the disappointed lecture of Principal Figgins about planning, foresight and harm of their reputation, thanks to the both of them. The girls decided to part ways so that Rachel could go search their mechanic Mr. Cabot and Mercedes could try calm down Mr. Figgins. Maybe Mr. Cabot could go down to the basement and look for the…

Suddenly, the lights went on again. Contentedly, Rachel sighed, trying to make her heart beat at a normal pace. But as she saw Finn Hudson standing beside the DJ, her heart skipped a beat, again.  
He was talking to the DJ, giving him something.

Probably money.

Furiously, Rachel narrowed her eyes. She was too far away to intervene. She looked over to the dancefloor. The guests were wondering what happened to the music, some were looking over to the buffet or the bar.  
Too late, Rachel realized that some of the guests didn't look like the McKinley clientele at all.

"Fellas", the DJ said into the microphone. "I've heard that there is going to be a big surprise for you. Are you ready?"

Rachel felt faint. On the opposite side of the hall, she could make out Mercedes and Ryder, looking just as shocked. "Have fun!"

The lights were dimed, until the hall was almost dark.  
People gasped, amazed, and the music started playing again. The song had a slow and loud beat, the chandelier was clattering a bit.

Rachel stared at the dancefloor.

Some women and men were starting to dance lasciviously. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the hall was different than it had been some minutes ago. It was no longer elegant and noble, but smutty and sexy. Rachel was about to march straight to Hudson to call him out on that when someone was touching her arm.

"Are you Rachel Berry?", a guy next to her asked. Rachel nodded absentmindedly. On the other side of the hall, a guy was dragging Mercedes, another guy Mr. Anderson to the dancefloor.

"That's a present from your friend Finn Hudson", he continued, took a chair and made Rachel sit down. Perplexed, she was staring at him.

That guy had to be in his mid-twenties, his hair was blond and gelled back, his eyes were bright blue. He leaned forward…and started dancing.  
Rachel's mouth was dry, her head just stopped working.  
She couldn't believe that was happening.  
The guy slowly put off his jacket, then he started undoing his bowtie. When he was done, he threw it behind him. Some women were screaming, delighted. After that, he slowly put down his suspenders, looking at Rachel, seductive. Slowly moving to the beat of the music, he leaned down to the brunette.

"Don't you want to help me, Rachel?", he murmured flirtatiously, taking her hand.

"Come on, undress him!", someone was screaming behind her. That was the final straw.

Rachel jumped up. The guy backed away. For a split second, he looked insecure, but then, he smirked again.  
He undid his buttons himself, continuing with the show as if that never happened.

Mercedes rushed over to Rachel and dragged her from the dance floor, furious. "Strippers? For real?! Who the hell was that?", she ranted and stormed off to search for Principal Figgins.

Rachel looked over to the middle of the dance floor. Right beside her teacher Mr. May, two women were dancing, wearing nothing but their glittering G-strings and revealing bras.  
That had to be a nightmare, right? In the next moment, she would wake up in her bed, all sweaty.

But after Rachel saw how a redheaded, half naked woman was in front of Noah Puckerman, giving him a dirty lap dance and started undoing his buttons, Rachel could no longer lie to herself.

That was real.

Angrily, Rachel turned around. She spotted him immediately.

Finn Hudson was leaning against the wall, amusedly watching the spectacle. He was holding a crystal glass with a brown liquid inside, which looked like... alcohol?

The brunette gasped. He knew exactly that drinking was not allowed at school!

When he noticed Rachel staring at him, he raised his glass to her and smirked.  
The reasonable part of Rachel told her to go find Mercedes so that they could stop that.  
The irrational part of her wanted to harm Finn so bad right now.

Although that part of her was louder, Rachel turned away. She had to get her act together now and save that party. Later, she could hurt that asshole as well. And she knew exactly, how.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is Rachel up to?
> 
> Next time: The aftermath of the Back-To-School Party!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

On Monday in the morning, the number one topic at school was the party. The online forum of McKinley was not working for a while because all the students were posting comments or videos, sharing photos and commenting them nonstop. Some of his schoolmates were giving Finn high fives in the hallways, congratulating him on the awesome party. Like always, that incident was also in the local newspapers of Lima.

Of course, Finn's grandparents didn't believe him when he told them he had nothing to do with it, but in fact, they were angrier with Kurt who had decided to skip the party.  
Everything considered, the party had been a success.

"Finn Hudson, please come to the office of Principal Figgins", he could hear from the loudspeaker when he was walking down the hallways with his bros.

He saw that coming.

Figgins had been fuming on Friday at the party, and during the obligatory assembly which took place every Monday morning, he had told his students how disappointed he had been.

It was always the same: Finn and his friends did something bad, Figgins told them in front of his students how disappointed he was, he ordered them to his office to caution them and let them go after five minutes.

"Let's see whether he will say the same things again", Mike grinned next to him, patting his shoulder. "Don't be scared."

"I never am.", Finn answered, said goodbye to him, Artie, Puck and Sam, and walked to the office.

He knocked, and Figgins told him to enter.  
Finn did so- and was surprised to see Coach Beiste standing next to Figgins' desk. Rachel Berry was sitting on the opposite of Figgins, refusing to look at him.

"You wanted to talk to me?", Finn asked, trying to sound nonchalant.  
What were they all doing there?

"Sit down, Mr. Hudson", Figgins said, pointing at the chair next to Rachel. He sounded… different than he usually did. He looked serious instead of annoyed and tired.

Finn quickly followed orders. Maybe he was not in a good mood.

"Is it true that for the Back-To-School Party, you have engaged those…those…" Figgins tried to find the right word. "…Entertainers who caused trouble?"

When he heard the word entertainers, Finn had to bite back his laughter.

"It depends which 'entertainer' you mean, sir", Finn said slowly. "I had nothing to do with the DJ."

Figgins nodded, glaring at him with his dark eyes.

"Are you finding this funny, young man?"

Finn shrugged nonchalantly. "Sometimes, I do."

Rachel next to him gasped.

Principal Figgins leaned forwards, looking Finn straight in the eyes.

"Tell me, Mr. Hudson, how do you think will that incident affect the prestigious reputation of our academy?"

Finn thought for a moment."I think that something like that is good for the image. Everything here is so…formal and boring, every now and then, we need to loosen up"

"You are kidding, right?!", Rachel hissed.

"Ms. Berry!", Figgins bellowed. "Its not your turn to talk."

Rachel paled. She narrowed her eyes, looking down her cheap-looking, violet bag.

"Mr. Hudson, you definitely went too far this time. I can't tolerate such behavior at McKinley Academy."

 _…that's why you will get cautioned. If you do something like that again, there will be grave consequences._  
Finn knew Figgins' lecture by heart. He really wanted to say it out loud now and wait for the principal's reaction.

"You are a grown-up man, and that's your last school year. You have to start to take on responsibility for your actions and realize that there will be consequences for misbehavior.", Figgins went on.

Well, that part was new.

"Since you have ruined the first event of this schoolyear, I decided that you have to join the event management club for the rest of the term. Consider it a community service supervised by Ms. Berry."

"What?", Finn and Rachel shouted in unison.

"That's out of question!", Finn exclaimed. "Sir, I don't know whether…", Rachel mumbled at the same time.  
Figgins lifted his hand, silencing both, Finn and Rachel.

"Mr. Hudson, you're attending this school for three years now. During those years, you have done a lot of unacceptable things", he started.

"Without any consequences. I turned a blind eye when you organized a car race on the schoolyard. Or when you and your friends wanted to give our founder's statue a make over and a cheerio outfit. Or when you created profiles of me and all the teachers on Tinder. Or when you threw an unauthorized party in the auditorium. Not to mention the countless times where you turned up drunk at _official_ parties. But you have to learn that your actions cause reactions. The McKinley Academy built up a reputation all those decades. We stand for discipline and excellence, and I can't allow that you endanger that with your youthful foolishness, again and again."

He looked to his side at Coach Beiste, who just nodded. "Mr. Hudson, as from now, you are suspended from the football team for the rest of the term."

Finn just stared at Figgins, unable to breathe. He could see Figgins opening his mouth and talk again, but he couldn't listen.

That couldn't be happening.

But it was.

Principal Figgins just took away a part of him.

"You…you can't do this", Finn croaked, hating how pathetic he sounded. He cleared his throat.

"Yes, Mr. Hudson, I can.", Figgins answered. "And before you want to threaten me with your parents or grandparents- I already called them this morning. The four of them assured me that they would support me, no matter which punishment I will choose."

Finn didn't see that coming. "Sir, with due respect, that's our last season. I'm the captain and quarterback, the boys need me."  
Seeking help, he looked up to Coach Beiste. The sorrow in her face felt like a punch in his stomach.

"That's your own fault, Mr. Hudson."

"Noah Puckerman isn't allowed to play for three games. If I'm not…"

"Samuel Evans is going to replace you as the quarterback and captain.", Figgins cut him off.  
Finn paled. He balled his fists, trying to get his act together.

"Please, Coach", he begged.

The football team meant everything to him. That was his senior year, after that, it would be over. He couldn't lose football that fast, he would do everything to not let that happen, even if it meant begging in front of Rachel Berry's eyes.

Unfortunately, Coach Beiste didn't change her opinion. "I'm sorry, bud", she whispered, crossing her arms.

"Ms. Berry, please show Mr. Hudson everything about the event management club.", Principal Figgins went on as if he didn't just ruin Finn's life. "He has to take part at each meeting, engage at each event until the term is over. If he refuses to do so or makes trouble, please come to me directly, alright?"

"Yes, Sir.", Rachel answered obediently.

"When is going to be the next meeting? Mr. Hudson can write it down his calendar."

Rachel cleared her throat, turning to Finn.  
Her glance was cold, Finn's even colder.

"The next meeting is today after the lunch break at the library, room eleven, behind the books about mathematics", she said emotionlessly.

Finn gritted his teeth, searching for a way out of this mess, but it was impossible. Besides, he didn't know how to explain that to his strict grandparents.  
Yup, this time, he really fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Serves Finn right, to be honest! Now, his parent's money can't save him...


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

" _What?!_ "

Mercedes was so loud that everyone in the group room, but also some people outside had heard it. The rest of the event management club just stared at Rachel after she broke the news to them.

"Finn Hudson is a new member of this club now.", she repeated, as neutral as before.

Mercedes cracked up. After she had calmed down a bit, Rachel opened her mouth again.

"Please act normal when he arrives here in a few minutes."

The brunette looked over to Tina Cohen-Chang who was about to put on some pink lip-gloss. She looked beautiful with her perfect make-up and her highlighted hair. That was no surprise at all because her mom owned a cosmetic empire which sold expensive make-up all over the US. Tina probably had her own stylists making her up every day for school.

She looked up from her hand mirror and fluttered her fake lashes. "What?", she said, smiling innocently. "I just want to look lovely when Hudson comes here."  
She blew Rachel a kiss, but the brunette just rolled her eyes.

"What does Hudson think we are doing with him?", Ryder Lynn asked. He was a sophomore with dark blond hair and hazel eyes. After Mercedes and Rachel, he worked the hardest and most ambitious in the club. "That we convert him and turn him to an angel?"

Mercedes snorted.

"Hell to the no! Believe me, converting him won't help that much anymore."  
That was the reason why Mercedes was Rachel's best friend at McKinley. She just understood her.

"Hey!", Kitty protested.

That didn't surprise Rachel because she was one of Quinn Fabray's friends and therefore part of Finn's exclusive clique. Besides, she couldn't stand Rachel and Mercedes and was pissed that they became the captains.  
Why she was still at the management club, Rachel would never know. Maybe because of the credits which would help her get into a good university.

She was indeed the laziest member of the event management club and seemed disinterested all the time.

"Anyway", Rachel said quickly because Mercedes just opened her mouth to say some unpleasant things to Kitty. "He will take part at our meetings whether we like it or not. I just wanted to warn you. He is also suspended from the football team for the rest of the term."

Tina cocked her perfectly shaped eyebrow. "Principal Figgins really did take drastic measures."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Hudson didn't deserve any better.", Mercedes said. "We spent half our holidays to plan the Back-To-School Party and with his uncool action, he just ruined everything. On top of that, Rachel had to listen to Principal Figgins' rantings for half an hour."

"Seriously?", Ryder asked incredulously.

"But it was not your fault Hudson smuggled those people to the party."

Rachel just shrugged. "We organized the party, so Mercedes and I are responsible for that. Besides, the people entering should've been controlled more carefully. Considering that, it was partly our fault. Principal Figgins wants us to apologize publicly on the _McKinley Blog_ , so that people know we didn't plan that."

Rachel was angrier with Finn because of that. She never got into trouble in school all the years. If she wanted to get into NYADA, her record had to be perfect. Finn and his childish behavior had endangered her future.

"That's dumb and doesn't make any sense. You shouldn't be blamed.", Ryder frowned, displeased.

Grateful, Rachel smiled at him, ignoring Mercedes' knowing glance. She was trying to tell Rachel that Ryder was crushing on her for a year. But that was nonsense. Ryder was just a nice guy, right?

Rachel cleared her throat. "Shall we begin?" The others nodded in agreement. The brunette and Mercedes got up, walking over to the whiteboard where Rachel had already written the topics they had to discuss.

"First, we need to discuss the party on Friday. What had been good and what not? Kitty, would you please take some notes?", Rachel said to the blonde.

Kitty glared at her, but Mercedes' glare was even more fierce. Finally, she rolled her eyes, opened her notebook and begrudgingly took some notes.  
Rachel checked her watch. Finn was twenty minutes late.

Time passed, and he didn't show up.

Even after two and a half hours, when the meeting ended.

There was still no Finn Hudson far and wide.

After Rachel and Mercedes had sent the apology to Principal Figgins, they parted ways because Rachel wanted to drive home and Mercedes still needed to hand in her homework to her English teacher before she could leave. The brunette went straight to the parking of the school, passing the school's football field on her way. While passing, she watched her schoolmates running around the field.

One player was catching her eye.

Rachel stopped in her tracks. She walked closer to the fence, eyeing the guy up and down. He must be kidding, right?  
With eyes wide open, Rachel gaped while Finn Hudson threw a football to Sam Evans. She could hear his dumb laughter from her position.

That…that… _douchebag_!

At this moment, Finn turned around and spotted Rachel. He stiffened, but craned his chin, sullen. That freaking idiot!

Rachel turned on her heel and went to her car, visibly fuming.

Whatever.

She didn't care about him anymore.

* * *

The next meeting of the event management club was on Wednesday. After her classes were over, Rachel went straight to the library which was her most favorite place at school, after the choir room of course. She had half an hour before the event management club meeting started.

Maybe she could find some books about performing and how to sing better. She walked around in the library, searching for something interesting. At NYADA, there was an even larger library with more books. She really couldn't wait to get into that university.

Rachel was lucky, she immediately found a good book.

She took the book and went to the group room.  
 _Singing Techniques on How to Fully Unfold One's Potential_ , the book was called.

"The both of us have a date this weekend.", Rachel whispered, excited.

Someone behind her snorted.

Rachel turned around.

Finn Hudson was leaning against the window, arms crossed.

He looked at her with cocked eyebrows.

"That's kind of sad.", he commented.

Rachel took a deep breath. "What is sad?"  
Finn laughed a bit. "That you want to start your weekend with school stuff." He slowly walked over to her. "I could spontaneously think of better things to do."

"What are you even doing here?", Rachel asked, purposely ignoring his hint.  
"Didn't you listen to Figgins? I have to start to take on responsibility for my actions and realize that there will be consequences for misbehavior.", he repeated the words of the Principal, smirking.

Rachel took out her documents from her bag.

"And you have decided to do what he says?"

"I don't have much of a choice, right?", Finn shrugged.

Rachel looked at him, skeptical. "On Monday, you took a decision."

"I'm here. Be happy about it.", he countered.

"That punishment is going to be for a month only, Finn", Rachel said. Finn looked up.

That was the first time she called him by his forename.

The former quarterback sighed deeply. "But I hate that."

Rachel's heart beat faster and she gulped while Finn sat down on one of the chairs, staring out the window.  
She didn't know what he meant with "that". Whether he meant that he wasn't allowed to play football, or whether he needed to spend time here, or whether he meant just Rachel. But she didn't care.

Without a comment, she wrote the agenda for the meeting on the whiteboard. She was a little bit nervous because she didn't know whether Finn was watching her or not.  
Luckily, someone else entered the room. "Sorry I'm late but Mr. Schue wanted to talk to me about the…" Mercedes trailed off when she spotted Finn.

"Hey", he greeted her.

Rachel wondered whether he greeted every person in the world like that.  
One hundred percently, he would say "Hey" as well at the beginning of the Interviews of his future college.

"What is _he_ doing here?", Mercedes asked Rachel without looking away from him.  
"He is here because of his punishment", Rachel answered truthfully.

Finn didn't say anything. Instead, he retrieved his notebook and laid it down in front of him. The book was black and looked really expensive, there was an HH in front of the book. It must be worth a fortune. Rachel and her dads had been in one of his grandparent's boutiques at Columbus, they wanted to buy a new suit for Hiram Berry. The brunette remembered how they had looked at the price tags, all prices had at least four digits, causing them to immediately leave that boutique.

Mercedes cleared her throat and Rachel was pulled out of her thoughts. She continued writing the agenda on the whiteboard while the other members arrived at the group room.

They all eyed Finn skeptically except of Kitty who fist bumped with him.

After everyone was there, they started with the meeting.

"The most important topic today is the second event of this school year.", Mercedes started, pointing at the headline on the board. "Halloween."

Ryder cheered quietly, and all the others laughed.

"The guests loved the masquerade ball last year.", Mercedes went on, showing their audience the PowerPoint of the previous years' Halloween party.

"Can't we do the same thing again?", Kitty suggested. "That would be less work for us."

"Hell to the no!", Mercedes said, aghast and Kitty just shrugged.

Rachel started making a mind map on the whiteboard.

"We need to reach an agreement concerning the motto.", Rachel explained.

"Let's just brainstorm, okay?"

For a moment, it was silent.

"I know what I don't want.", Tina finally said.  
"Orange-black decoration. That's so childish and unoriginal. That doesn't fit to McKinley."  
Rachel nodded, noting _more stylish decoration_.

"How about black and white?", Matt Rutherford suggested. He was the most silent member in that club, so Rachel was surprised he said anything. She actually liked his idea.

"Black and white is lame."

Suddenly, everyone went silent.  
Rachel turned around. Finn sat on his chair, arms crossed.

"Excuse me?", Mercedes echoed what she was thinking.

"Black and white is lame.", Finn repeated dryly.

"I already understood you.", Mercedes hissed.

Finn looked at her, frowning. "Then why were you asking?"

"We are brainstorming, Hudson. We all say which ideas we have, note them, _uncommented_ , so that we can find a solution.", Rachel explained as calm as she could.

"I know what brainstorming is, Berry.", he answered, pointing at the whiteboard. "And we won't come far like that."

"Says the guy who thinks that strippers are necessary for a party.", Ryder mumbled.

"I just did that because I knew how lame your party was gonna be", Finn defended himself.

Nobody said anything, but the atmosphere inside the room got more tensed up. Everyone except of Kitty glared at Finn, but he didn't care.

"Come on. You must have noticed that."

"If you believe that, then you are crazy", Ryder said, and Tina nodded in agreement.

"Guys", Rachel intervened. She sternly looked at the both of them. "Get your act together." Finn's corners of his mouth twitched, and Rachel pointed at him with her pen.

"Stop grinning like that. We spent the majority of our holidays to plan that party. It wasn't lame."

Finn smirked. "That's a matter of opinion."

Rachel refrained herself from stabbing him with her pen.

"Is that so?"

He nodded.

"And why, white boy?", Mercedes asked, too calm for Rachel's taste. She knew Mercedes wanted to smack him so bad right now, just like her.

Finn, unimpressed, counted on his fingers. "Firstly, the buffet had been dull. Secondly, the music had been shitty. Thirdly, there was no fixed dress code. And fourthly, the mood among the guests turned festive far too late."

Rachel could feel how Mercedes next to her trembled angrily. If they were alone, she would've already punched him minutes ago. Everyone in this club worked his ass off for that party, and he just said that it was lame. But Rachel was one of the leaders of that club, she had to react cool-headed.

"I agree with the music.", Rachel said calmly. "It wasn't perfect. But people danced anyway, so it wasn't that bad."

"Because people do that at parties. But you know, it could've been far better."

_Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't freak out.  
_

"I have heard your critique and I will take it to heart. But we are still trying to find a theme for the Halloween party. I think Matt's suggestion was good so I will write it down. I will note all the other suggestions as well so that we can choose one in the end."

With that words, Rachel wrote down _Black and White Party_.

She turned around again. "Any other ideas?"

"Okay, I have one.", Tina said, waving with her perfectly manicured hands.  
"Classical with a spooky touch. Tomb lights, black flowers. A modernized version of the traditional halloween party. "

Immediately, Rachel wrote it down.

"That's also boring."

"If you don't have a better idea, shut the hell up, Hudson", Mercedes hissed angrily.

"A red-black vampire party", Ryder suggested giddily.

"Also lame.", Finn mumbled.

Rachel took a deep breath. _She was going to get through that. She wouldn't stab him in the eye with her pen._

"You know what's lame? That you badmouth our suggestions", Tina retorted. "Suggest something for a change."

Finn looked down his notebook. Rachel doubted that he had even written something in there.

"My suggestion would be a Victorian party. The McKinley Hall would be perfect for it. We could get original tableware from that time, maybe in black. We could only use candle lights as primary light sources or something for spooky vibes. Of course you have to be careful to no burn down the school, but that's no problem. The dress code has to be decadent and noble. And maybe there will be a lot of games the Victorians played on Halloween. They can be part of the program or something."

After Finn had stopped talking, it was silent again.

"That's…actually a good idea.", Rachel finally admitted.

"I thought we don't comment the suggestions", Finn said, smirking.

Rachel avoided his glance and wrote down the suggestion.

"I once read that in the nineteenth century, people had baked cakes where they had hidden five objects.", Ryder said. "Those who had found the objects would be lucky or something. We could do something like that and there will be prizes for the finders.", he suggested.

"But we have to warn the people. We don't want anyone choking on their piece.", Kitty said and wrinkled her nose.

"And what music are we gonna play?", Tina asked.

"How about classical music, but remixed?", Rachel suggested.

"But not your weird classic-electro-dubstep remixes you listen to when you do homework", Mercedes groaned.

"Hey! They are not that bad. I can concentrate with that music", Rachel defended herself.  
Everyone looked at her skeptically.

Rachel turned to Ryder, seeking help. "Come on, Ryder. Tell them."

"There are cool remixes of Victorian music, I've listened to some of them."  
Thankfully, Rachel smiled to him. "Send me the link or something."

"I think I would organize an orchestra. And some of you are in glee, right? You could perform something if you are not too busy that evening.", Finn said. "And maybe rehearse a dance or something." He scratched his head, slightly embarrassed. "But without me, I can't dance."

The others agreed, nodding.

"So, looks like we already agreed on a theme.", Mercedes said, sounding surprised. She pointed at the whiteboard. "But I would like to vote anyway. Who wants a Black and White Party?"

Nobody.

"A classical-chic party?"

Again, nobody.

"And a Vampire Party?"

Nobody.

"What about the Victorian party?", Rachel asked. Everyone including the team leaders lifted their hands.  
Rachel really didn't see that turn coming. With cocked eyebrows, she looked at Mercedes.

"Looks like we found the motto for this year's McKinley Halloween Party."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol, I have nothing to add this time xD Whatever, see you next chapter!
> 
> Peace, I'm out ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me some time to write that chapter for a reason, especially the discussion...
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Andy parked the Rolls-Royce on the parking of the McKinley Academy. He leaned back on the car, waiting for Finn. When he spotted him, he straightened up. That was not necessary, Finn had told him a thousand times.

Finn ran down the stairs of his school, bad tempered. He already regretted suggesting the Victorian Party. He was so not in the mood for organizing all that stuff. He hated the event management club! Or that he wasn't allowed to play football anymore. That's definitely not how he pictured his senior year.

At the car, he wanted to get in, but Andy touched his arm. "Sir, you look like you are not in a good mood."

"You got that damn straight, Andy."

He looked back and forth between the car door and the student. "Maybe you could bridle your temper. Mr. Hummel is in a bad shape."

Immediately, that dumb event management team was forgotten. "What happened?" Andy took a step towards Finn. "He just talked to someone, to a young man. It looked like a dispute."

Finn nodded, and Andy opened the door so that he could get in.

Luckily, the panes were toned. Kurt looked horrible, his eyes were red and so was his face. He had never cried that much like he lately did. Finn got angry that he had to see him like that, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Seven years ago, he and Puck had beaten up the boys at the park to make them shut up when they made fun of Kurt.  
Two years ago, he had made sure David Karofsky got kicked out of school when he harassed him.  
Now, there was almost nothing he could do, and that sucked. They were grown up now, their problems were more serious.

"What happened?", Finn asked when Andy started the car.  
Kurt didn't answer.

"Kurt, dude…"

"That's none of your business", he hissed.

Finn stared at him until he just turned around, looking out the window.  
He really would like to help him, but he just didn't know how.  
Lately, he tried everything to find out what happened between Kurt and Mr. Anderson, but he didn't want him to.  
Actually, they had never talked about each other's love lives.

There were some things he didn't want to know about his brother – and vice versa. But that time, it was different.

Kurt was devastated, really devastated.

"Blaine freaks out.", Kurt suddenly whispered when Finn already gave up.

He turned back to his brother, waiting for him to continue.  
The anger towards that douchebag of a teacher was raising inside him, but he got his act together. He didn't want Kurt to turn away once again.

"I'm scared that Rachel Berry is going to tell Figgins and so is Blaine", Kurt finally admitted.

"She won't."

"How do you know that?", Kurt wanted to know, skeptical.

"Because I will make sure of that.", Finn promised. Kurt sighed deeply. "Finn, I already told you…"

"…you can take care of yourself; I know. But whether you like it or not, I will always be your big brother and watch out for you", Finn retorted. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You are only elder by a few months Finn.", he said, annoyed. Finn smiled inwardly. That sounded a lot like the old Kurt.

"Anyway, the point is that I'm your big bro. And I'm gonna keep an eye on her.", Finn insisted.

"You can't stalk her all the time, that would be creepy."

"I don't have to. She is one of the leaders of the event management club.", the former quarterback grimaced. Kurt looked at him, pitiful.

"I totally forgot about that. How awful is it?", he asked.

Finn just grumbled.

"Did you talk to grandfather yet?", Kurt asked carefully.

Finn shook his head, looking out of the window. His grandfather would be mad. "That is going to be great", he mumbled sarcastically when the car arrived at the gate of their driveway.

* * *

Rachel stared at her calendar. Since the meeting where they had found the motto it's been a while and she still didn't ask Finn whether he could borrow them Victorian costumes for the party. Lately he had been acting weird during their club meetings, making mean comments or ignoring the others completely. Unfortunately, they needed him because they wanted to have people on the posters wearing Victorian clothing, maybe a pair. And the easiest way would be to take some of the Hummel-Hudson's gigantic archive.

Mercedes and Rachel had drawn lots who was going to ask him, and Rachel had lost. Since that moment, Rachel was thinking of a way how to ask him. Maybe she could write him an email. Or a text. That way, she didn't have to ask him in front of the others and risk being insulted by him or something.  
The brunette groaned frustratedly.

"We could switch.", Mercedes suggested while the two were leaving the cafeteria.

They had an obligatory workshop now on how to succeed in Interviews or application essays for their dream colleges. Luckily, Rachel and Mercedes were in the same group, but they didn't know who else would be with them.  
Mercedes had to listen to Principal Figgins' lecture about fire safety because of their motto while Rachel had to do the thing with Finn. Honestly, she would do anything to not ask Finn Hudson for help.

"Wait", Mercedes said while they were walking towards the learning center. "I take that back. I don't want to switch."

"That's a shame. I would have done it immediately", Rachel whined.

"Come on, white girl. It's not that bad."

"Says the one who shouted 'Jackpot' when she won the fire safety lecture", Rachel mumbled.

Mercedes grinned. "I just think that he is so arrogant. And by the way, all of this was his idea anyway."

"Yes. It was a really good one, sadly.", Rachel admitted, scanning her student's ID card on the machine, and entered the learning center. Mercedes followed suit.

The learning center was a secluded section where only juniors and seniors were allowed to enter.  
Students usually went to that place to study for tests or to do homework.  
Today, the workshops took place at some of its rooms, preparing the juniors and seniors for the application procedure of elite- universities in small groups. McKinley really did everything to make sure that their students were accepted at top colleges.

"Oh, hell to the no…", Mercedes mumbled when they entered the room.  
Speaking of the devil.  
The room had twenty spaces and the only people were Puck, Sam, Mike, Artie, Quinn, Brittany, Santana, Kurt… and Finn.

Quinn Fabray, whose parents _owned_ a chain of five-star hotels all over the world, the _Fabray Hotels Corporation_.

Brittany Pierce, whose grandfather founded Starbucks and whose dad was its freaking CEO.

Santana Lopez, the Princess of Spain with Mexican roots and second in line for the throne after her big sister Fernanda.

Not to mention Kurt Hummel, Finn Hudson and his wealthy "bros".

Luckily, Tina was also there, she was the only one who greeted Rachel and Mercedes.  
Rachel went to the place which was the furthest away from Finn Hudson's snobbish, conceited clique. She didn't want to have anything to do with the US-High Society.

Mercedes seemed to share that sentiment because she flipped Finn the bird while passing him. "That's for letting our club down, lame ass", she hissed. Finn cocked his eyebrows, unimpressed.

Santana cracked up. "That was badass as fuck, Aretha. I like that!", she chuckled. Seriously, how could a person like her be a princess? Rachel thought that princesses were…ladylike and polite and kind, but obviously, she was dead wrong.

Sam winked at Mercedes, smiling a bit. Mercedes looked at him, blushing slightly and quickly walked away, sitting down next to Rachel and Tina. Rachel frowned. Was there something going on between Sam and her friend? She would find out, that's for sure.

The tutor clapped her hands, and everyone stopped talking. "Hey, guys", she greeted them. "My name is Celestia Trenton, but you can call me Tia. I'm a sophomore at Stanford, and I also had to go through that whole application procedure two years ago. So I know how you guys feel now."

Puck was mumbling something, causing Sam next to him to laugh, letting it sound like he cleared his throat. They were probably talking about how good-looking Tia was.

"Every university has an application essay or Interview with one of the professors no matter what you want to study. I will help you prepare yourselves for it. Some professors like discussing with the applicants so I prepared some themes. You" She pointed at Puck. "Will you please read out loud the first topic on your handout?"

"Of course, milady", Puck joked cheekily and read out loud: "The first topic is: If you can justify your actions, does that mean that my actions are rational?"

He frowned. "Sheesh, what the hell are they talking about?", he murmured, crossing his arms.

Quinn raised her hand.

"You don't have to raise your hand, this is an open discussion now", Tia explained, nodding to Quinn.

"All actions have an emotional source.", Quinn started. "Of course, people say you need to think first before you take a decision, instead of listening to your heart, but at the end of the day, decisions are taken because of the emotions. So no, actions are not rational."

"That would be a short answer in your essay", Santana commented, and her friends laughed. Everyone except of Finn. He blinked like he just woke up.

"That's a theory which can be disproved by any of you or not.", Tia said.

"In order to answer that question we need to define what rational means in this context", Kurt suddenly said, playing with one of his pens.

Rachel would like to know what he wanted to study.

Or where.

"Rationality means thinking or behavior which is reasonable", Artie mumbled.

"In this context, rationality means reasonability.", Rachel said. "But reasonability is more subjective. How can I define reasonability if each human has different rules, principles and values?"

"I would say that everybody has more or less the same view of basic values", Mike thought out loud.

Rachel shrugged. "I think that it depends on the way you have been raised and which people are your entourage."

"Each human learns from the beginning on that he or she is not allowed to kill other people and so on. If you act upon your principles, it's kind of rational", Tina added.

"But not each action can be traced back to your principles", Mercedes said, thoughtful.

"So if I do something that destroys me but I was remaining true to my principles, is it a rational decision?", Kurt asked. Confused, Rachel looked at his direction, but he was staring down his notebook.

"If you think it was reasonable, then yes.", Rachel answered after a while. "That's how you can see how different principles of different people can be. I would never do something voluntarily that destroys me."

"So, your basic understanding of reasonability is more worth than mine?", Kurt said, suddenly angry.

"I just mean that I think that actions cannot be rational if someone gets hurt, whether it is another person or my humble self. But that's my claim."

"And your claim is higher than the other people's claim, right?" Rachel looked over to Finn. He had talked quietly, but she had heard him. He was looking at her, his glance was cold.

"I don't refer to the question to what I think, but to the fact that everyone thinks and acts differently."

"Let's assume that I would invite some strippers to a party to make it better.", Finn said slowly. "That would be a rational decision, right?"

Rachel almost broke her pen apart. "That wasn't a rational decision, that was just unmoral and fucked up"

"You better don't use words like 'fucked up' in your application essay or your Interview", Tia commented.

"If you have two job offers for example, where one is better paid but the other one makes you happier, you take the better paid one", Finn said.

"If your principles are based on money which shouldn't be surprising in your case." Rachel's body was full with energy and she felt like there was only her and Finn in the room.

Finn lifted his eyebrows. "Firstly: You don't even know me. Secondly: It _is_ reasonable if I take the better paid job."

"And why?"

He looked her straight in the eyes."Because nobody in the world cares about you if you don't have money."

Rachel gasped. She was enraged. Who did that snob think he was?

Mercedes, having noticed her anger, patted her shoulder. "White girl, you better calm-" "-Not now, Mercedes. He just insulted us.", Rachel hissed, glaring at Finn. "That's how people can see who raised you."

"What is that supposed to mean?", Finn asked, calm.

Dangerously calm.

The brunette shrugged. "If people tell you from the beginning on that nobody cares about you if you are poor, it makes sense that you act like that because only money counts to you. That's pathetic if you think about it"

Finn's right eye twitched. "You should stop talking now, Rachel."

"At Harvard, Stanford or whatever university you choose, you won't make others shut up as well. Maybe you should get used to it and also get used to the fact that you will be rejected. But you shouldn't worry about that because you are still stinking rich, and the world is interested in you.", she said sarcastically, getting louder and louder with each word.

Finn flinched like she had just slapped him. It was dead silent inside the room; Rachel could only hear her heart beating faster than usual. Finn got up, the chair fell down behind him, and then, he just left the room, slamming the door behind him. Rachel blinked and looked around.

Finn's friends looked at her, perplexed.

Kurt looked downright shocked.

Rachel shuddered, realizing what she had just said.

"Will people hate us because we have a lot of money?", Brittany whispered anxiously, with tears in her eyes.

"Of course not, Britt", Santana reassured her, taking the blonde in her arms and throwing Rachel a killing glance.

Now, she pissed off the Princess of Spain.

Great, just great.

So much for staying invisible.

Instead of a professional discussion, she was getting personal because Finn made her angry. What he had said was right. She really didn't know him. And she had no right to insult him like that even if he acted like an idiot. That didn't make her better at all.

What the hell had gotten into her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, chill, Rachel. This time, she definitely went too far. Finn's life isn't that great, you know...
> 
> Btw: Quinn is based on the former It-girl Paris Hilton, heiress to the Hilton Hotels, and Santana (obviously) on the younger Princess of Spain


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Finn stared down his notebook where he had made random circles and squares. Maybe drawing would distract him from the fact that his friends were playing football outside right now and he wasn't.

Or that his grandfather had been pissed days ago after he had told him about the punishment. Now, Finn had to take part at a business dinner of _Hummel-Hudson men's wear_ the following Friday. He hated those freaking dinners, especially because he didn't know what he was going to talk about with those old men and women.  
In addition to that, James Hudson knew exactly that Finn would one day take over the car business of Burt, and Kurt would be the new CEO of their boutiques.

His grandfather just wanted to torture him because of his misbehavior.

Great.

Maybe he would ask Puck to come over again after school so that they could get drunk together, like they always did when their friends were training, and they weren't allowed to join them.

"Finn!"

Finn looked up. Everyone from the event management club was looking at him.

"What?"

"He didn't even listen!", Tina exclaimed, looking angrily at Rachel.  
"I'm going to repeat it, then", Rachel said calmly, looking over to him.  
"We need costumes for the photos of our posters. There is a costume rental in Lima, but you can see that those costumes are not original."

"Last time, we already decided that we needed authentic photos for our posters. But it's not that easy finding good costumes.", Mercedes added, looking over to Rachel. Rachel had a pained face expression, but she tried to smile anyway.  
Finn could imagine what came next.  
"Your grandparent's boutique exists for hundred years or something, right? Maybe you could ask them whether they have some clothes they could borrow us?"

Finn sighed deeply.  
"I can't."  
Rachel looked like she already expected his answer.  
"Okay. And may I ask why?"  
"No.", Finn answered dryly.

"So, in other words: You don't want to help us?", she asked, trying to stay calm.  
"Whether I don't, or I can't help you doesn't matter. The answer will stay the same."  
Rachel's nostrils were flared; her eyes were narrowed although she tried to stay calm. Finn somehow found it amusing how she tried to retain her composure.  
He tried ignoring the fact that she actually looked cute. Her bangs fitted her hazel eyes perfectly, her large nose didn't fit her pink, thin lips. But everything together looked…gorgeous.

Finn couldn't tell why he threw a fit at the discussion yesterday. It wasn't the first time someone called him a rich, snobbish idiot.

Hell, it wasn't the first time _Rachel_ did it.

He didn't know why those words affected him, but they did something with him, and he didn't like it. Finn didn't know himself like that and neither did his friends. Nobody dared to talk about it and that kind of scared him.  
He groaned inwardly. He wanted to enjoy his senior year, god dammit!  
Now, he wasn't allowed to play football and he had to spent some of his afternoons in that stupid group room, listening to Rachel talking about…

Rachel snapped her fingers in front of his face.  
"Sorry", Finn said, rubbing his face. "What is it?"  
"Guys, we can totally pass on that guy", Ryder said, annoyed.  
"I could pass on you as well, but sadly, I have to bear you until the end of this term", Finn retorted, glaring at Ryder.

"Finn!", Rachel exclaimed angrily.

"What? I'm just honest."  
"There are moments in life were honesty is not appropriate"

Finn cocked his head to the side. Somehow, it was hot that she was talking so strictly.  
He shook his head, trying to expel that thought from his brain.

Since when did he find _Rachel Berry_ attractive?

What the hell?

Maybe, he was just too stressed out. He needed to relax. He retrieved his phone, typing in a text under the table and sending it to his friends.

_party at my place tonight  
_

"Let's just order the costumes at the costume rental, okay? We can photoshop the photos afterwards", Tina suggested while she was filing her fake nails.  
Mercedes snorted. "That's just ridiculous. Finn freaking _Hudson_ is in our team."  
"I will just send a request to _Hummel-Hudson's men's wear_ if Finn doesn't wan to help us", Rachel suggested.  
"No, you won't", Finn said absentmindedly without looking away from his phone.  
Puck just wrote how bad the freshmen were at the field and that Coach Beiste was about to flip out.  
"You can't prohibit it, can you?"

Finn didn't want Rachel near his grandparents.  
He didn't want anyone near his grandparents.  
The imagination of Rachel next to his grandfather made him sick.

"Do you really want me to tell Principal Figgins how unmotivated you are?", Rachel threatened.  
Finn glared at her.  
He couldn't believe she was blackmailing him.

If he wasn't so pissed right now, he would be impressed.

"Do what you have to do", he growled.

For the rest of the meeting, he ignored her, and nobody talked to him as well. He drew angry monsters with sharp teeth eating a football into his notebook.

When the meeting was over, Finn got up so quickly Kitty next to him startled.

He was already at the door when Rachel suddenly got into his way.

"Could you stay for a moment?"

"I'm in a hurry", Finn said with gritted teeth.  
Rachel touched his shoulder. "Please."

She didn't sound annoyed like minutes ago, but tired as if she couldn't wait to leave the room either. Finn groaned, but nodded anyway. Ryder was the last one leaving the room, and before he left the room, he threw him a weird glance.

Was that guy…jealous of him?

Well, interesting.

Rachel cleared her throat and put her hands on her hips. "If you are mad at me, don't let the team suffer. It's not their fault and it was not fair."

When Finn thought about the discussion yesterday, he felt sick.  
He could remember every single word she had said to him.  
But there was no way she could find out how much these words had hurt him.

So, he just glared at her.

"I'm not mad at you."

"You don't seem peaceful either."

Finn cocked his eyebrows.  
"We had one stupid discussion yesterday, Rachel Berry. A discussion which turned too uninteresting for me. What do you want from me?"

"I just wanted to apologize. I acted unfair and got personal, and I'm sorry."

Okay, he didn't expect that. Finn needed a few seconds to find the right words.

"You think you are so important. Do you really believe that I'm still thinking about that?"

Rachel blinked, irritated. "You know what? Forget it."

"You don't need to apologize just because you want something from me."

"I don't apologize because I want something from you, Finn.", she said. "Cause I'm really sorry. I have been so…evil yesterday."

They looked at each other for a while, saying nothing. Finn started thinking.  
She genuinely seemed to be sorry.  
Maybe he could just forgive her, that would make things easier.  
She wouldn't run to Principal Figgins and complain. Besides, it was freaking exhausting to fight with Rachel Berry.

"Okay", he just said.

Now, the atmosphere wasn't that tense anymore like it used to be some minutes ago. Rachel also seemed to loosen up a bit.

"Good.", she answered. She turned back to her documents and put them into her bag.

Great, he could leave now. But why didn't he move, then?

Instead, he watched her while she put her pens and her books into her bag like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"How many costumed do you need for the poster?", he suddenly heard himself say.  
Rachel froze and carefully turned around to look at him.

"Two. One for a man and one for a woman."  
He could see how she tried not to look to hopeful, but she failed miserably.

"I'm gonna ask my grandparents.", Finn finally said.  
Rachel's eyes lit up and she tried to look normal. "Really?"

Finn nodded. "Are you happy now?"

Rachel closed her bag and shouldered it. She went over to Finn. "Thank you. You're really helping us."  
Finn shrugged and for the first time, they leave the room together.  
"The planning has been good until now, right? For Halloween?"

Surprised, she looked up to him. Finn was also surprised about his question. Why the hell didn't he just leave?  
"Actually, yes. But I think I can sleep without nightmares again if the party has been successful."  
"Why is it so important to you?", Finn asked, genuinely interested.

_The heck?  
_

Rachel thought a bit before she answered.  
"I just want to prove that I'm good enough to lead that club. I really needed to fight to get into that school, and it just feels like I have to prove myself, day by day."

Finn looked thoughtful. "What are you thinking about?", Rachel wanted to know.  
"I'm just trying to find something I'm passionate about."

"Football?", she asked.

Finn just shrugged. "Maybe."

They left the school building and Rachel checked her watch.  
"Oh shoot! My dads wanted to go to the movies with me!"  
She sprinted to the parking of the school and right to her car.

Finn went to the other direction where their Rolls-Royce was waiting for him.  
Asking his grandparents didn't seem like a big burden anymore all of a sudden.

* * *

Rachel's phone vibrated when she was in the movies with her dads, watching _Les Misérables_. She retrieved it and covered its light with her popcorn bag. An unknown number had sent her a text.

_Unknown number: I have to costumes for the posters. We can get them tomorrow from Columbus. -F._

"I'm so disappointed in Anne Hathaway. I thought she was a better singer", Hiram just murmured, shaking his head.

"The Hollywood versions of musicals are always worse, darling", LeRoy answered, laughing a bit.

Rachel cleared her throat. "We didn't plan anything tomorrow, did we?", she whispered. "No? Why?", Hiram asked her, interested.  
"The event management club is planning a Halloween party and we need to get the costumes. A classmate of mine says that we can take them from Columbus."

"It will take you two hours from Lima to Columbus and your dad needs our second car tomorrow. Will your ominous schoolmate drive or will you take the train?", LeRoy wondered. Rachel typed in a text and sent it.

_Rachel: Okay. How do we drive to Columbus? - R.B._

Maybe he got the joke with the initials.

_Finn: My chauffeur will pick you up tomorrow at ten am. Ok? – F. C. H._

Rachel snorted and her dads threw her questioning glances.  
She was about to google Finn to find out what that C was supposed to mean, but that was nonsense. Googling him would be too much.  
She didn't want to know which information was about Finn Hudson in the net. In the school, there a so many rumors. Her demands considering rumors about him were definitely covered.

"My classmate has a chauffeur.", Rachel answered absentmindedly.

"A chauffeur?", Hiram said, skeptical. "So, it's one of these snobs."  
"His grandparents own _Hummel-Hudson's men's wear."_

"You want to drive with that boy to Columbus?", LeRoy asked, raising his eyebrows. Rachel nodded slowly. "Yes. We can get clothes of their archive."

"And there are… only the two of you?"

"Come on, LeRoy. Leave our girl alone", Hiram said, smiling knowingly.  
"What? If she has a date, I want to know" Rachel blushed. "That's not a date, dad", she said quickly. "May I go?", she asked with puppy dog eyes.

Hiram nodded. "Of course. You are old enough to decide what is right and what isn't."  
Rachel blushed even more. She typed in her answer.

 _Rachel: Okay._  
Btw: Instead of champagne, I would like Ben&Jerry's. – R.B.B.  
And if you write another initial, I'm gonna flip out

Rachel waited a moment, asking herself whether she could send the text like that. Finn and she were not the type of people to joke around like that. Right?

_Finn: See you tomorrow, Rachel._

Nope, they weren't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read in a lot of comments that you were worried what Finn was gonna do to Rachel after that heated discussion.  
> Don't worry, he is not that kind of person who wants revenge. Besides, he has to be careful because Rachel knows about Kurt and Blaine (Mr. Anderson, goddammit, Rachel would correct me lol).
> 
> Next time: The excursion to Columbus! And Rachel finally meets Elaine Hummel and James Hudson...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

In the next morning, Rachel was about to lose her mind because she just didn't know what to wear for the visit at Finn's family's boutique. Was there a dress code? How chic did she have to dress up? They never saw each other outside of school where they all had to wear their school uniforms. Finally, she decided on knee high black socks, a black skirt and a cream-colored blouse. She chose some light brown high heeled fashion boots her dads gave to her on her sixteenth birthday.  
Rachel went up and down her room. Was that outfit appropriate? She was even so desperate she sent a picture to Mercedes, asking her what she thought about the outfit.

_Rachel: What do you think?_

Mercedes answered immediately.

_Mercedes: Looks chic, white girl. You rock this outfit!_

Rachel sighed, contented.

_Mercedes: So it's no date? Are you sure?_

Rachel rolled her eyes. Why did everyone think that it was a date?

_Rachel: You know exactly that I can't stand that guy_

She startled when the doorbell rang. One of her dads answered the door.

"Rachel!", Hiram shouted. When she went down the stairs, she told herself to calm down.

It was just an excursion with her classmate Finn Hudson.

No biggie.

She took a deep breath and went to the entrance. Her eyes widened. Her dad was talking to a man.

Firstly: Finn didn't lie. He really had a chauffeur. Even with uniform and bonnet and everything.

Secondly: He looked like a Latino model in his forties. He had tanned skin, dark eyes and a gorgeous mouth. Hiram was thinking the same because he looked him up and down.

"Good morning, Miss", the model-chauffeur greeted her.

"Good morning, …."

"Andy", Hiram helped her out, beaming at her.

"…Andy", Rachel ended her sentence, smiling politely, taking her coat from Hiram's hands. "Until later, dad!", she said.

"Goodbye, darling. And take a lot of photos!" Hiram kissed his daughter on the cheek and Rachel followed Andy to the car.

Okay car was underrated. It was a _freaking limousine_.

Between all the other cars of her neighbors, it seems so alienated and different. Andy opened the door for her, and Rachel sat down into the car. She straightened out her skirt, then she looked at Finn.

He was sitting on the opposite seat, looking thoughtful. He wore black pants and a noble button up shirt. In his right hand, he held a glass with -hopefully- apple juice.  
Now, that she was looking closer at him, Rachel noticed how tired he looked. He had dark circles under his dark brown eyes.

"Good morning", he said, sounding as tired as he looked.

Maybe he didn't even sleep. Had he been at a party or something?

"Good morning", Rachel answered. "Thanks for picking me up."

When he didn't say anything, Rachel decided to look around. The seats were made out of leather, on the opposite of Finn was a bar with glasses and a small fridge. There was a dark divider between their section and the driver's section.  
Rachel pointed at Andy's direction, wanting to break the silence. "Your driver could be a Hollywood star. I've never seen a more attractive man in his forties."

"That's nice of you, Miss. I'm fifty-two.", they could hear Andy's voice through the loudspeaker.

Embarrassed, Rachel looked over to Finn. He started grinning goofily and the brunette blushed.

"If you say things like that you have to turn off the intercom, Rachel", he chuckled, pointing to a bulb over his head.

"Oh."

"I'm doing it, Sir.", Andy said and one second later, the bulb turned off.

Rachel buried her face in her hands and groaned.

"In the movies there is just a divider. How am I supposed to know that I have to push a button?"

"Don't worry. Andy rarely gets compliments like that; he surely is happy about that one."

The brunette shook her head. "I think I have to get out."

"Well, too late. For the next two hours, you are trapped here with me." Finn retrieved something from the fridge.

"Here, for you."

Rachel looked up. Finn was holding a small, blue cup in his hands.  
"Don't say you really got me some ice cream", the brunette said incredulously.

"We still had some at home.", he just answered. "Take it, or I will eat it."

Rachel took the cup. Finn opened the fridge, taking another cup of Ben&Jerry's.  
Interested, Rachel watched how he opened the lid. It looked weird seeing him eating ice cream with his elegant clothes.

She also opened her ice cream lid and started eating. "Strawberry Cheesecake. Awesome!", Rachel gushed, devouring a spoonful of ice. "I had to guess which one was your favorite. Was I right?", Finn asked, eating his _Cookie Dough_ flavoured ice cream.

Rachel nodded eagerly. "I'm not that much of a chocolate fan to be honest, I prefer fruits for a reason. Maybe that's because I'm vegetarian", she frowned. Finn stared at her. "You don't eat meat? For real?" Rachel nodded.

The two of them ate their ice creams in silence for a while.

"That's the best hangover breakfast ever", Finn finally said.

So, he really had been partying yesterday. "Long night?" Rachel immediately regretted having asked after he ambiguously smiled down his ice cream.

"You could say that."

"So that part of the ominous Finn-Hudson-rumors is true."

"Ominous Finn-Hudson-rumors?", he asked, amused.

Rachel cocked her eyebrows. "Come on."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"As if you didn't know that there are tons of rumors about you and your clique."

"Such as?"

Rachel started counting on her fingers. "That you eat caviar for breakfast, you take baths in champagne or you destroyed

a waterbed while you had sex with Princess Santana…and so on."

Finn froze while he wanted to eat a spoonful of ice cream. It seemed like he was finally fully awake now.

"Okay, let's squash the rumors of the ominous Finn Hudson", he laughed. "I hate caviar, because eating fish eggs is just disgusting. For breakfast, I drink Smoothies, maybe I add poached eggs and cereals."

"Into the smoothie?", Rachel queried, looking disgusted.

"No, I just eat them together."

"Oh, okay."

Again, he thought for a moment. "The champagne rumor isn't correct either. At least not like that. I once dropped a bottle of really expensive champagne of Mike's parents in his pool and then swam inside it. But that wasn't intended."

"Mike's parents are surely no big fans of you."

"You have no idea." He grinned and continued eating his ice.

"And…the theory with Santana and the waterbed?", Rachel asked carefully.

He started smirking.

"You really want to know, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do.", Rachel admitted. "I mean waterbeds are really stable, right? How could you break it?"  
"It was no waterbed; it was a normal bed. And it was kind of Santana's fault."

Why were there butterflies in Rachel's stomach all of a sudden?

"How boring", she mumbled, trying to sound casual.

No, she wouldn't imagine how Finn looked while he had sex.

Nope.

Nay.

No way.

Unfortunately, she couldn't help it.

She thought how he and Santana destroyed the bed while they had sex. How did he look when they destroyed the bed?

He really had a nice body, to be honest.

And he was sporty and agile.

He surely made the women in his bed happy.

Rachel flinched. _Where the hell did that thought come from?_

"The rumors are partly correct or even incorrect in all of the cases.", Finn just said, grinning knowingly.

Did he read her mind or something?

"Then, I'm happy there are none about me.", Rachel said quickly, trying to change to topic.

Finn brought his ice cup back to the freezer. "After that thing with Kurt, I did some researches about you."

"I don't know whether I want to know what people think about me.", Rachel murmured.

In middle school, people were hating her because she was so "self-absorbed" and "selfish". She didn't have a lot of friends because she didn't want to share the limelight. Everyone hated her and her diva-like behavior.  
At the end of middle school, her classmates only wrote bad things about her in her yearbook, even her so-called friends. Rachel had been devastated that day, crying herself to sleep instead of partying with her schoolmates.

When she came to high school, she swore to herself that she would try to change and be a better person.

She could still be a selfish diva when she got famous later on.

"Honestly, people didn't even know you. And the few people who did didn't say bad things about you."

Rachel sighed, relieved. "Really?"

Finn nodded. "That's why I was so skeptical. Someone with such a good reputation must be up to something bad."

Rachel grimaced. "I'm not up to something."

"Of course not." He looked amused. "Come on, Rachel. Tell me something no one else knows."

The brunette shook her head. 'Nice try, Finn Hudson', she thought. "You tell me something no one else knows, instead."

She expected that he would protest, but he looked thoughtful now.

"If I don't get into Harvard, my grandfather will kill me." He said it casually, but his eyes told her another story.

"Because he also studied there?", Rachel asked carefully. Finn nodded. "All the Hudson men did, even my biological dad."

One day, Rachel would ask him how his dad died, or why.

"Actually, he is less strict with Kurt. I think he likes Kurt more because he is interested in fashion and stuff like that. Kurt is his poster grandson so to say. But I was never got enough for him", Finn admitted.

Oh.

Rachel felt bad because she really must have hurt him with her words at the discussion. She really didn't know that.

"I always wanted to attend NYADA or any top university that offers dramatic arts.", Rachel said, changing the topic.  
She really wanted to tell him something about her because he also did.  
It was okay like that.

"My parents always supported me when we found out about that prestigious school and their scholarships. My chances were slim because there were not that many and people all over the US wanted one of those.  
We never even hoped that I would even get into McKinley, but I somehow did, don't ask me how.  
From that day on, I swore that I would try everything to get into an elite university, preferably NYADA. I want to make my dads proud. And myself as well."

Finn was silent for a while, just looking at her.

"How long have you been at McKinley?" , he then asked.

"From the beginning on."

He nodded slowly.

"What?", Rachels asked.

He shrugged. "I'm just wondering how I never noticed you."

Rachel's heart skipped a beat. Was that a compliment?

"I tried to stay a wallflower all the years. Normally, I'm not like this."

Finn smirked. "Like a chameleon? They can also turn invisible, but in reality, they are bright and remarkable. But we are getting off talk. It's your turn now."

"What are you talking about?", Rachel asked, confused.

"You need to tell me a secret."

"But I just did!", the brunette protested.

Finn shook his head. "That doesn't count. You just reacted to the secret I told you."

The brunette took a deep breath, thinking of something. "There is nothing."

"I don't believe you." He leaned back, crossing his arms. "Come on. You need to tell me something."

Rachel sighed deeply. "Okay, okay. My role model is Barbra Streisand.", she confessed. That wasn't really a secret, but Finn didn't have to know that.

The quarterback quirked his eyebrows. "Really? She is your guilty pleasure?" Rachel nodded eagerly. "Yes. She inspired me to become a Broadway star or a singer. My biggest dream is to star at Funny Girl on Broadway, maybe as the main character.", she confessed.

Finn whistled. "That's…something. If I weren't bound to my family's enterprise, I would try my luck at NYADA as well.", he joked. "But I mean it: I can't dance. That would be a problem, right?" Rachel tried to picture Finn and his clumsy dance routine. She needed to laugh.

Finn Hudson made her laugh.

Oh my.

How did it come that far?

She quickly turned away, but Finn had already seen her. He looked…triumphant?

But why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to divide that chapter into two parts or else, it would be two long...


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

_Hummel-Hudson's_

The names of Finn's family were written all over the boutique in an imposing way.  
While Finn walked over to the entrance, Rachel looked up to the impressive building, gasping. Finn had explained that the shop was on the first floor while the offices and tailor's section were on the other five floors. On the shop window, stunning mannequins were showing off expensive looking suits and tuxedos. Rachel didn't want to know how much those clothes costed.

"Rachel? You're coming?", Finn shouted from the entrance doors.

Rachel blinked.

She was in Columbus.

With _Finn Hudson_.

She still couldn't believe it.

"Rachel!", Finn shouted, cocking his eyebrows.

Hastily, she went over to him. He held open the door for her and she entered the boutique. Then, she looked around in the reception hall.

There was a big chandelier above their heads and even a water fountain. After the reception hall, there were mannequins with elegant suits and pants for men. A really good-looking man rushed over to them.

"Mr. Hudson! You are early!" He checked his watch, a little bit panicked.

"No problem, Maxwell. We still have time", Finn reassured the young man.

Now, Finn looked…superior and authoritarian. Rachel noticed his poised posture.  
People could see that he wasn't just someone. How did he do that?

"Sorry that I didn't receive you.", Maxwell just apologized.

"No problem, Max.", Finn answered. "Do you have time for us or are you too busy?"

Enraged, the tailor looked up. "Of course I have time for you, Sir"

Finn turned to Rachel. "Rachel, this is Maxwell Smith, one of the main tailors of Hummel-Hudson's. And Maxwell, this is Rachel Berry. She is one of the leaders of the event management club at McKinley Academy."

Rachel looked at Finn with cocked eyebrows. She was surprised he had introduced her like that.

Maxwell loosened up a bit and politely smiled at her.  
"Mr. Hudson doesn't bring school friends to this place that often. Enchanté, Ms. Berry."

Rachel also smiled at him although she had no idea what enchanté was supposed to mean. Maybe something nice. She gave him her hand, but instead of just shaking it like she expected, he kissed it. Rachel didn't know what to do. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Smith", she decided to answer.

"Please call me Maxwell."

"Only if you call me Rachel."

Maxwell smiled even wider and he turned back to Finn. "My assistants took the costumes out of the archive. They are both at the tailor shop upstairs. Would you please follow me?"

He turned around and lead them to a door in the back. That door lead to a staircase.

"I really hope you will like the clothes we have chosen for you.", Maxwell said. "Your great-great-great-great grandfather designed them, Mr. Hudson."

Finn just nodded neutrally. "I'm sure they are good enough."

"Is it the same great-great-great-great grandfather that founded your enterprise?", Rachel asked curiously.

Maxwell nodded. "That's right, that was 1864 and was called Hudson's back then."

On their way to the boutique, Finn had explained how his grandfather and Kurt's grandmother had met at a banquet ten years ago after their respective partners had passed away.  
Elaine Hummel and James Hudson turned from acquaintances to friends to lovers and eventually married. After their marriage, Hudson's had been renamed to Hummel-Hudson's.  
Two years later, Carole and Burt had married, and Finn was convinced that their grandparents had somehow set them up some years after Elizabeth Hummel's death.

"Did you know that Hudson's did design clothes for women as well? But later, they stopped it.", Maxwell just told Rachel.

"Yes, I read something like that in a magazine.", the brunette nodded. "But why?"

"There was that economic crisis back then.", Finn recounted. "My ancestors had no other choice; they couldn't afford producing men's AND women's wear anymore. Specializing was the only way to save that enterprise."

"After that, Hudson's became the respected brand it is now.", Maxwell explained proudly. "Nobody makes the suits like we do. Our clothes are qualitatively valuable and original. We even personalize each suit, pants or shirts with the initials of our customers. Mr. Hudson, show her yours."

Rachel turned around and looked at him. She looked at his front pocket where she could read F.C.H.

"I'm wondering since yesterday what C. is supposed to mean", Rachel admitted.

"Christopher", Finn answered quietly.

"Like your dead father?"

He nodded and looked over to Maxwell, showing her that he didn't want to talk about it.

The tailor showed the duo the wall beside them, and Rachel gasped.

There was a picture of the president on the wall.

"Don't say you clothed our president?", she asked incredulously.

Finn didn't say anything, but Maxwell smiled proudly. "Not only him."

They went along the hallway where there were photos of politicians, stars and even some royals- all of them wore clothes of _Hummel-Hudson's_.  
Rachel saw Pierce Brosnan, Michael Bublé, Paul McCartney from the Beatles and even the Canadian prime minister. There were other people she didn't know, but they all looked powerful.

"Did you meet all of those people?", Rachel asked Finn.

He just shrugged. "Some of them."

"That's so cool.", the brunette mumbled and was a bit sad they already arrived at Maxwell's tailor shop.

Rachel looked around. It was a spacious hall were more than fifty people were working on their desks.

"Come on, the costumes are over there.", Maxwell said and lead them to the back. When they were passing the other people, they greeted Finn politely but a little bit stiffly.  
Obviously, they seemed to be scared of him.  
Finn just ignored them with his poker face. Rachel frowned. What was going on in his head now? She was pulled out of her thoughts when Maxwell showed them the mannequins with the costumes.

"Voilà", he said.

Rachel gasped.

The mannequin had a [Victorian dress](https://li0.rightinthebox.com/images/384x500/201909/anohlp1569235376191.jpg).  
It was made out of green silk, had two parts and short sleeves with white lace.  
The upper part was quite tight fitting, the skirt was pompous and thanks to the underskirt, it seemed even more enormous and heavier.

It was the most beautiful dress Rachel had ever seen in her life.

How she would take it home or to the school, she had no idea. She didn't even dare touching it with her pinky finger because she didn't want to make it dirty.

Behind the female mannequin, there was another, male one with an [ancient suit](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/816s5Xx0SnL._AC_UX679_.jpg). There were some pants, a shirt and a vest with a cane. The dark vest had so much pockets, inside the white shirt, there was a tie, looking different from the other ties she had ever seen.

"When gentlemen used to clothe themselves, they didn't do things by halves. Every detail had to be perfect", Maxwell explained, taking off the costume of the man.

When he was done, he pointed at Finn. "Come on, Mr. Hudson. Let's see whether it fits you."  
Finn didn't look at Rachel when they went to the partition wall. Since they left the Rolls-Royce, there were no emotions on his face anymore.

But why?

Rachel looked closer at the dress in front of her. She wondered who wore a dress like that and which life she had.

After five minutes, Maxwell came back to her. "It fits him perfectly", he said triumphantly.

"You have my measures, Maxwell.", Finn commented dryly. "You helped along, didn't you?" He then went over to the two of them.

Rachel's mouth went dry.

Finn looked like he came right out of the nineteenth century. The suit fitted him perfectly, Tristan even gelled his hair back and gave him the cane.

Finn looked fantastic.

She then looked up his face and caught him grinning naughtily at her. She blushed.  
"Now, its your turn, Rachel.", Maxwell said.

"What?" Confused, she looked at him. "For what?"

"You know, dressing up." He pointed at the dress. She stared at him and Finn. The latter one tried to bite back his laughter.

"That's out of question!", she exclaimed, a little bit panicked.

She was supposed to get the costumes not to try them on.

"Do you think I will be the only one? Nope." Finn pointed at her with his cane and tipped her with it against the shin.

"A true gentlemen would never hit a lady with his stick", Maxwell grinned. Finn snorted.

"Rachel is no lady; she is a tyrant."

"You didn't get to know my tyrant side yet, Finn. But I would like to show it to you." She looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Maxwell, do you have another stick?"

"I'm afraid I don't. But you don't need a cane if you wear that great dress. Come on.", Maxwell said, looking at her hopefully.

Rachel nodded slowly, reluctantly following him to the partition wall.  
Another woman joined them and helped Rachel put on that dress. She never would have made it alone. Closing all those mini zippers was so complicated and she almost dislocated her shoulder when she put on that tight upper-part.

"Done, boss", the woman finally said, and Maxwell joined them."You look fabulous! Just one detail…" He retrieved a hair brooch and made something with her hair. Finally, she was allowed to look into the mirror.

Oh wow.

She didn't know she could look like that. She felt beautiful, powerful and strong at the same time. Like the world was her oyster or something.

Rachel turned back to Maxwell. "Thanks you forced me to put on that dress." He grinned.

"Mr. Hudson", he said to Finn.

"I present to you: Ms. Berry."

Carefully, she moved around and out of the dividers' section. Finn was talking to Maxwell's assistant, but when he saw her, he stopped talking. He cocked his eyebrows and opened his mouth.

He eyed her up and down and cleared his throat.

"You look…beautiful"  
Rachel's heart skipped a beat. It was not the first time boys complimented her. But this time, it felt so…special. She doubted that Finn said that often.

It seemed so…genuine.

Maxwell dragged her over to Finn and retrieved his camera. "Now look like a lady and a gentleman from the nineteenth century."  
Next to her, Finn snorted, but then, he looked into the camera like he never did anything else.

Rachel remembered when the pictures of a magazine were posted on the McKinley forum last year. He and Kurt had modeled for the new collection of their grandparents and they had the same pokerfaces as Finn now.

Rachel changed her position, trying to look authoritative.

"Change the position, pretend to ask her for a dance.", Maxwell suggested.

Finn looked like a pro, he looked elegant when he took her hand and pretended to ask her.

His skin is warm and soft, and Rachel's skin prickled a bit at the contact. She could imagine how he asked her for a dance.  
And how he laid his hand on her back and lead her to the dance floor.

Rachel gulped. Why did she find that thought so pleasant?

"Maybe another pose?", Maxwell said.  
Finn took her hand and laid his other hand on her waist. Rachel held her breath, her heart raced.

Why did it feel so good if he touched her?

What was he doing to her?

Apparently, Finn seemed to have the same thoughts. His eyes were sparkling, there was only him and her all of a sudden. Rachel wished he would never let go of her.

"Finn.", a deep voice behind them said.

His face fell, he visibly stiffened. He straightened up and let go of her hands.

One second.

Only one second and he became the old Finn she knew. The old Finn she didn't like.

"Grandfather, Grandmother. I didn't know you would be here today."

Oh no.

Rachel somehow turned around in her gigantic dress and paled.

Elaine Hummel and James Hudson were standing in front of her.  
Finn's and Kurt's grandparents.  
CEOs of one of the most successful enterprises in the US.

Suddenly, she didn't feel so powerful and strong in her dress anymore- especially not compared to Elaine Hummel.  
Everything about her was so noble, elegant and sublime. She had slim, red lips, her skin was porcelain white, just like Kurt's, and she was wearing a tight, black dress with silver high heels, which looked really expensive. Her chestnut hair was shoulder-length and perfectly coiffed.

Finn's grandfather had grey hair and icy blue eyes. His posture was upright and proud and with his customized Hummel-Hudson suit, he looked like he was on his way to an important meeting.

"We were here because of an important meeting with Chinese customers", Mrs. Hummel explained. She kissed his grandson on the cheek and Rachel could smell her flowery parfum.

"Andino said that he drove you and your…" she looked at Rachel "…school friend to this place."

Finn didn't answer. Since he didn't look like he would introduce her to his grandparents, Rachel stepped forward and gave Mrs. Hummel her hand.  
"I'm Rachel Berry. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hummel." The woman eyed her before she took her hand. "The pleasure is fully mine." She smiled a pearly white smile.  
Rachel really wanted to be like that woman one day.

She wanted to be respected like her, not feared like Finn's grandfather.

He only nodded when they shook hands and turned away immediately.

Mrs. Hummel eyed Rachel's skirt."That skirt is too long, please change that, Mr. Smith."

Maxwell, who didn't say a word since the pair's arrival, nodded. "Of course, ma'am."

"Why do you need that dress at all?", Finn's grandmother wanted to know.

"For the Victorian Party at Halloween", Finn answered. Somehow, he sounded like a robot now.

"He means the party he has to organize because he acted like a naughty, little boy.", Mr. Hudson commented. Mrs. Hummel clicked her tongue. Finn didn't react to the words of his grandfather.

Maxwell's assistant helped Rachel to undress while Finn talked with Mrs. Hummel and Mr. Hudson.  
The atmosphere was so…different now that Finn's grandparents were there. Nobody said anything, even Maxwell didn't smile or joke around anymore.

When she was done, Rachel went over to Finn. Mrs. Hummel nodded at him. "We will see you downstairs"

Finn just nodded numbly. The woman turned to Rachel. "It was nice to meet you, Ms. Berry."

Finn's grandfather didn't say anything. The both of them went down the stairs, leaving the tailor shop. After they had left, Rachel felt like she could breathe again.

"You should've warned me.", Rachel said to Finn.

He stiffly turned to her. "Andy is waiting for you downstairs."

"I'm done. It's you who is still stuck in the nineteenth century.", she joked carefully.

He didn't even smile. "Our excursion is over", he started, sounding as cold and distant as he looked. "Now, go to Andy."

Rachel frowned. "What?"

"You need to leave now, Rachel.", he said slowly. "See you at school."

He turned on his heel and went to the dividers' section to dress up. She just stared at him, stunned. Angry, she wanted to step forward to talk to him, but Maxwell held her back with his arm. He looked sorry, but also somewhat stern.

"Come on, Rachel. I will lead you to the car."  
Begrudgingly, she went with him. While passing the tailor shop, she could feel the pitiful glances of the employees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, poor Rachel... I feel sorry for her.
> 
> Why did you do that, Finn? *facepalm*


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

So much for staying invisible.  
Everyone at McKinley found out that Rachel had been at Columbus with Finn.

Suddenly, people knew her name.

Schoolmates whose faces she had never seen before greeted her amicably.

People were talking behind her back.

It was even worse during classes: She couldn't concentrate because her classmates were staring at her all the time, dying to find out what happened between her and Finn Hudson.

But to be honest, she just wanted to forget that afternoon.

Rachel still felt humiliated and her anger towards Finn was getting more intense the more she thought about that incident.  
During lunch break, Mercedes looked at her weirdly, but Rachel was not in the mood to talk. Luckily, she didn't ask further questions and they ate in silence.  
The event management club meeting was a torture. Rachel couldn't look at Finn, she tried to tell her teammates about the costumes without getting even more furious or hurt. It seemed to work because everyone was excited about the photos.

Kitty told them that her parents knew the CEOs of a silverware manufactory who would like to help them out with the cutlery.

Tina had found a lot of offers concerning the decoration for the party and Ryder was playing the music he had found on his laptop.

Rachel was somewhere else with her thoughts.

After the meeting was over, Rachel wanted to leave immediately but Mercedes held her back with her arm.

"I'm aware that we are not really besties or something, but I can see that something is off. If you want to talk…"

"That's nice of you, but I'm fine.", Rachel sharply cut her off.

Mercedes sighed. "Just trying to help…", she mumbled and wanted to leave.

Rachel sighed deeply.  
She couldn't keep it inside her any longer or else she would explode.  
Besides, she had no one else to talk. She loved her dads more than anything, but they just weren't the right people to talk to.

"Mercedes, wait." The black girl turned around, surprised. "Actually, something happened on Saturday…"

"You have met his grandparents?", Mercedes gasped after Rachel was done explaining.

The brunette nodded. "After they showed up, he had started treating me like trash."

Mercedes started to wipe the whiteboard. "Maybe he didn't mean it like that.", she thought out loud. "Maybe he already regrets what he has done."

Rachel cocked her eyebrows, surprised. "Does he?"

"You should have seen him during the meeting. He begged you with his eyes to look at him or something.", she said.

"That's nonsense."  
Mercedes shrugged. "If you say so. But nevertheless, it was great that you have ignored that asshole now."

Rachel took her bag. "I just want things to be normal again.", she admitted while they left the room.  
"People are staring at me as if we made out or something. But actually, they have no clue what really happened."

Mercedes nodded slowly. "I know. But you know the people here at McKinley. They want to have gossip, especially of Finn Hudson."

The two of them entered the hallway and Rachel was about to answer when she saw someone leaning against the wall.

Finn.

Oh boy.

Rachel stared at him. She was about to ask him what he was still doing there, but then, she remembered that she was supposed to ignore him. So, she just looked away and wanted to leave.

"Do you have time to talk?", he asked. His soft tone irritated her. It didn't fit to the Finn Hudson who treated her like trash 48 hours ago.

_You need to leave now, Rachel._

Rachel took a deep breath. Nope, she wouldn't yell at him. She didn't want to lose her library card.

"No, I don't have time.", she said instead, proud that she sounded calm.

"We need to talk.", Finn went on and looked at Mercedes.  
"Alone."

Rachel shook her head. "We don't have to do anything, Finn."

Mercedes next to her nodded proudly. _Kick that douchebag's ass_ , her eyes seemed to say.

"You know what?", Rachel said, looking Finn into the eyes. "Maybe it would be better if we return to the beginning."

Finn frowned, confused. "The beginning?"

Rachel cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the big lump inside her. "I mean the time where you didn't even know about my existence. Maybe it would be better to return to that state. I used to be fine like that."

He opened his mouth to answer, but then, he closed it again.

"I understand."

That was good. He understood the problem. So, she didn't have to do anything with him anymore.  
However, it hurt a lot when she turned around and left the library with Mercedes.

* * *

"What's your problem, darling?", LeRoy asked his daughter when they were about to cook vegetarian spaghetti sauce.

Rachel looked up while she was cutting carrots. Her dads were looking at her with concerned face expressions.

"Nothing.", she said, a little bit too late.

"Your dad is right. You have been acting weird since you returned form that excursion with your ominous classmate, and we would like to know the reason", Hiram agreed. _  
_

Rachel sighed. Not even at home, people would leave her alone.

"Just tell us what happened", LeRoy pleaded.

The brunette dumped the carrots into the pot. "You don't want to know. There is nothing interesting.", she said, tired.

The doorbell was ringing, and Hiram went to the entrance door. "Who is it?", he mumbled on his way.

"Can't you ask your friend whether he could give us a sightseeing tour of _Hummel-Hudson's_ or something?", LeRoy just asked his daughter, trying to change the topic.

Rachel felt sick.  
There were two worlds in her life: The world with her family only, the other one with McKinley and her wealthy classmates. She always tried to keep them apart all the years.  
Not because her dads were not glamorous enough or something, but because she knew how cruel upper-class people could be. She just wanted to protect her family.

"You can ask him yourself, darling", Hiram, who just returned, said. "The boy is waiting on our porch, he wants to talk to you, Rachel. You didn't tell us how handsome he is."

Rachel gaped at her dad. "You didn't let him in, did you?"

"Of course not. You can do it or let it be, that's your decision.", Hiram winked.

Numbly, she went to the door. Finn was standing on the stairs with jeans and a sweater.  
It was the first time she saw him with a casual outfit, he looked like such a normal boy now.  
He held a giant protective cover in his hands with the logo of the Hummel-Hudsons. Suddenly, Rachel got really angry. He wasn't supposed to be here.

She didn't want him near her family.  
Now, her two worlds were about to clash.  
She wouldn't allow that, especially after the incident on Saturday.

"I wanted to bring over the dress. Maxwell made some adjustments; it should be perfect now."

Rachel didn't move. "You come to my home just to bring me the dress?"

He took a deep breath and rubbed his head. "I also wanted to apologize for my behavior on Saturday. I acted like an idiot."

The brunette just stared at him for a moment. It was the first time she heard him say something like that.  
She was convinced Finn Hudson didn't apologize that often, especially after he had done all those things in school.

But now, he really seemed to be sorry.

"I don't get why you did it.", Rachel said quietly. After he had held her hand and looked at her in a special way, and she didn't just imagine it.

Finn gulped visibly. "Sometimes, I don't get why I do things myself, Rachel Berry.", he mumbled almost inaudibly.

Rachel opened and closed her mouth again. She didn't know what to say. So she didn't say anything for a while.

"Why did you really come here?", she finally dared to ask.

"What you said after the club meeting…what if I don't want return to the beginning?", he asked hesitantly.

Rachel laughed bitterly. "You kicked me out. You embarrassed me in front of your grandparents. You pretended I was not good enough for them."

He shook his head. "I didn't mean to do it."

Finn looked almost…nervous?

 _Finn Christopher Hudson_?

What the heck?

"I had fun on Saturday. Until…my grandparents returned." He cleared his throat. "It would be a shame for me if we pretended, we didn't know each other. You are no longer invisible to me."

Although that afternoon was still in the back of her head, there were those darned butterflies in her stomach again.

"What do you want from me, Finn?", Rachel asked quietly.

"I don't expect anything. I just don't want it to be like it used to be. Can't we just…know each other?"

Rachel looked at him, speechless. What if he wanted to keep an eye on her just because of his brother?

"If this is one of your tricks…", she asked skeptically, but Finn cut her off.

"No.", he said and stepped closer to her. Rachel couldn't breathe for a moment.  
How the hell did this happen?  
How the hell did they turn from not knowing each other to hating and blackmailing each other to…this?

"Rachel? Are you okay?", LeRoy asked behind her. The brunette nodded, pleading him with her eyes to go back inside. Her dad nodded, seemingly understanding what she wanted. He went back inside, leaving the door open.

Rachel turned back to Finn. "I don't know.", she said earnestly.

Finn nodded slowly. "Okay. I just wanted to apologize for the incident on Saturday."

"Only for Saturday?"

Finn smirked. "I won't apologize that I paid you a Lap dance."  
She had no idea whether she could accept his apology if he said something like that.

She had no idea whether he was serious or whether he just wanted to make sure she didn't tell anyone about Kurt.

But on the other side, it would make her life easier if she didn't have to be mad at him all the time. Actually, she enjoyed spending time with him on Saturday.

And there was this warm feeling inside her whenever he was around.

She knew how dumb it was and that she shouldn't trust him. But in fact, she didn't want to return to the beginning as well.

"But this is going to be your last chance, okay?", she said, looking straight into his eyes.

"Okay.", he answered quietly, handing her the dress he was still holding. Now, it was raining, so Rachel quickly brought the dress inside. When she returned, there were a lot of waterdrops in Finn's hair which were slowly running down his face.

Her manners told her to let him in before he got wet completely, but she just couldn't.  
It didn't feel right.  
She was not ready to introduce him to her family.  
Maybe she never would be.

"I accept your apology.", she finally said. His eyes lit up. It was the first time she saw him like that.

Like that, they were standing on the stairs of her house, with Rachel being not quite ready to invite him in.

But it was something.

* * *

It sucked watching his own team playing football without him.

Finn's team was full of adrenaline on the field while he was standing on the side of the field. In this moment, he regretted having caused trouble at the Back-To-School Party.

Sam seemed to be a good quarterback too.  
How did he know that when he returned, Sam would be ready to give up his new position?  
Or that the Coach would be ready to let him be the quarterback again?

Suddenly, he heard steps behind him.  
He turned around and saw Rachel and her friend Mercedes running to his direction. The brunette cursed loudly after they arrived. She was wearing her school uniform although it was not necessary during football games.

She was holding her notebook in one hand, the tripod in her other. On her back he spotted her terrible looking bag. Seriously, where did she buy that thing?

Finn went over to the duo, hands in his pockets, watching them prepare the camera.

"Can I help you?", he asked.

Rachel turned around, looking at her with big eyes. She didn't get used to the fact that Finn wanted to be her friend. He had greeted her in the hallways every time, but she just had flinched.

"Did we miss something?", she asked, stressed out.

"The opponents had a touchdown.", Finn answered. Rachel quickly took some notes. "Great, thank you."

Mercedes was busy filming the game and taking photos.

Finn noticed that he watched Rachel longer than his own team.  
It hurt less like that.  
He really wanted to leave right now, but he didn't know why he stayed anyway.

Instead, he stayed, occasionally answering the questions Rachel or Mercedes were posing.

After one and a half hours, he didn't feel triumphant after his team had won a game, but tired.  
When he thought about Sam's party which would take place after the game, he just felt sick.  
He was so not in the mood to hear the condolences of his friends.  
Without a word, he turned around and left. He retrieved his phone to call Andy so that he could pick him up.

"Finn!"

He looked up. Rachel came running to him.

"What is it?", he asked.

"Are you okay?" Finn frowned. Nobody ever asked him that question because nobody really cared about him.

"Must be frustrating to watch your team playing, right?", she asked softly.

"Yup."

Rachel looked at him. "Do you want to be alone now?"

Insecure, he just shrugged, not knowing what to say. Luckily, Mike showed up at this moment. "Hudson! Where are you going, my friend?"

Okay, that question was crappier than Rachel's. "Home.", he just answered.

"Did you forget Sam's party this evening?"  
No, he didn't. But he was not in the mood. However, he couldn't tell Mike. He was still the captain even if he was suspended.  
It would be unfair if he didn't show up.

"Of course I will be there.", he grimaced, avoiding looking over to Rachel.  
"Don't look like that, man. This is going to be awesome; we have the whole house for ourselves."  
Finn just grumbled.

"Hey, why aren't you coming as well, Rachel?" Finn warningly looked at Mike, but he ignored it.

"You don't have to", Finn said quickly. Sam's party definitely wasn't the right thing for someone like Rachel. "I don't think that you are gonna like it."

He noticed that he had said the wrong thing as Rachel frowned.

"How do you know what I'm gonna like and what not?" She turned to Mike. "I will be there, Mike. Thanks for the invitation.", she smiled at him. "When and where?"  
Mike was about to open his mouth when Finn intervened.

"I will pick you up." Rachel stiffened. "That's not necessary, Finn."

"Andy will drive the both of us, okay?", he insisted. Rachel threw her hands up. "Fine, if you say so…"

Dammit!

Why couldn't he get his act together when he was around that woman? He promised Kurt to keep an eye on her- that's all. There was nothing else between him and Rachel Berry, he had to tell himself a couple of times.

"Okay, Andy will be at yours at 8 pm.", he said as neutral as possible.

Rachel nodded. "Great."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Rachel's first (elite) party where some old memories are coming up...
> 
> Stay tuned!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Sam Evans lived in one of the biggest and most pompous houses Rachel had ever seen. She wasn't even sure whether house was the right expression.  
After the security guy had checked Andy's license plate and they were driving up the estate of the Evans, it was an endless alley of trees and bushes.

When Finn and Rachel got out of the limousine, the brunette impressedly looked up to Sam's three-storied mansion.  
Finn next to her didn't look as impressed, probably because he lived in a mansion on an estate like that one himself. Rachel's hands got sweaty.

What the hell was she even doing here?

She swore to herself she would never go to these weird parties of snobs.

But one dumb comment of Finn was enough to make her do something stupid. Of course, she had to do the opposite of what he wanted her to do, which was kind of ridiculous if she thought about it.

She was still pissed that her excursion with Finn had destroyed her invisibility at McKinley – and now, she was accompanying him to a party where the majority of her classmates was going to be.

The people were going to talk about them, and she didn't like that. Yes, she wanted to be popular one day, but not like that.

From outside, they could already hear the music and the loud voices of the party guests. Maybe she could pretend she was sick or something, then, she could leave. But she didn't want to satisfy Finn.  
The former quarterback opened the door with his key (why did he even have a key to Sam's house?) and they entered.

The entrance hall was so imposing it distracted Rachel for a moment. The floor was made out of Belgian marble, there was a gigantic chandelier, on her right and left where two stairs, symmetrically leading to the first floor, to a gallery. The party seemed to take place in the entire house, nobody seemed to notice the duo.

"What are they doing upstairs?", Rachel asked Finn, pointing at the twenty boys and girls at the gallery on the first floor.

"Playing a weird version of beer pong which only exists at Sam's place.", he answered, grimacing.

The guys on the stairs dropped tennis-balls into the cups at the foyer. The majority of the balls didn't fall into the cups, so a lot of people needed to drink. The girls cheered excitedly whenever someone was forced to drink a shot.

"I don't get it."

"Me neither.", Finn admitted.

"You made it!", someone shouted excitedly. Sam appeared at the gallery, sat down on the bannister and slid down, really fast.  
Rachel felt dizzy while she watched him.  
Puck appeared behind him, but he decided to take the stairs the normal way. While he went down, he downed a shot.

Sam arrived first and greeted Finn with a bro hug.

"I hope we made you proud." Rachel could feel how Finn stiffened a bit.

"Yeah, you did.", he said neutrally.

Sam looked over to her. "You are Mercedes' friend! Robyn, right?", he guessed. Rachel grimaced.

"Almost. It's Rachel.", Finn corrected him. "Rachel, this is Sam."

As if she didn't know that. Sam was in Finn's exclusive clique, everyone at McKinley knew him.

"Rachel! Mike told me he had invited you!" Puck went over to her, grinning naughtily.

Oh no. She knew that face expression.

"Hi", Rachel said with a forced smile.

_She wouldn't think about what happened, she wouldn't think about it._ _She had erased it from her memory._

Finn laid his hand on her back. "Sam, be a good host and offer us a drink.", he said in an authoritarian tone.  
Sam lead them to the foyer where at least fifty people were partying, dancing or talking. The music was loud as hell, the lights were dimed.

Rachel could count the parties she had gone to on one hand. She never got invited to parties, even before she got into McKinley. Maybe because she was not that popular.

Now, her classmates were drinking expensive alcohol out of crystal glasses, there was an entire sound system playing music which boxes were at different spots in the walls. People were dancing, making out and talking loudly. Besides, there were a lot of naked skins.

So, that was an Elite party.

Outside, there was a winter garden with a pool where a lot of people were swimming with their underwear.

She would stay away from that place, that was for sure.

Some people were sitting on the edge of the pool, smoking cigarettes. Others were drinking out of alcohol bottles, sitting on the expensive looking sofas inside.  
Rachel was so overwhelmed with the situation she didn't notice Finn asking her something.

"What?"

"What you want to drink, Rachel Berry."  
Rachel thought for a moment.

"A coke. If they don't have it, then just a glass of water." Finn looked her in the eyes. "Would you mind if I drank?"

Rachel shook her head. "No."

"Good. I will be back in a flash." Then, he and Sam went away. Puck stayed, smirking at her. "So, you don't drink?", he asked provocatively.  
He looked like he already had a lot of drinks.  
She needed to get her act together. She could ignore him three years after that crap happened, now, she wouldn't flip out because of his dumb comments.

"No.", she just answered.

Puck stepped forwards; Rachel stepped back.

"Why not, Rachel?", he asked, far too nice for her taste. "Did you experience bad things with alcohol?"

Puck was so close she could smell his breath.  
Yup, definitely drunk.

"You know exactly why I don't drink, Noah", Rachel answered coldly.

After that afternoon where he had helped her with the photos, she thought that he had changed.

But boy, she was wrong.

"I think that night was quite good.", Puck smirked.

"I don't think so.", Rachel said with gritted teeth.  
He always left her alone in school, he never had talked about it, even not that afternoon after he beat up his opponent.

Hell, he couldn't even remember her name!

Why did he talk about it _now_?

"Really?", he asked, coming closer.  
Rachel pushed him away. "I'm not keen on a repetition, okay?", she said icily.

Puck cocked his head to the side. "Is that so? I remember what you have whispered into my ear back then."  
"Just because you got me drunk!", she protested.

"Really?", he smirked. "Alcohol makes people honest, Rachel."

The brunette flinched when she had to think about that night: Puck's panting, his hands all over her body.  
When she thought about it, her body heated up. Not only because she was ashamed, but also because she really enjoyed it back then. But the way it had happened was disturbing to her to that day.

Puck was about to open his mouth, but then, they heard someone's stern and also bored voice.

"Leave her alone, Puckerman!"

His eyes widened, and Rachel turned around. Kurt Hummel was standing next to them now, arms crossed. He threw Puck an annoyed glance before he took her hand and dragged her away.

After they were far away, Kurt turned to Rachel, cocking his eyebrows. "Who would've thought that _you_ have a dirty secret?"

Rachel must have looked panicked, because Kurt defensively lifted his hands, grinning amusedly.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Rachel just stared at him, realizing what he had just said.

"I don't care who knows about it.", she said sullenly although the both of them knew that it was a lie.  
If she could she would immediately delete that moment from her brain.

She had been fifteen and new at McKinley. It was her first event and she was so excited she had happily drunk all cups of punch Puck had offered to her.

She had absolutely no idea he had added alcohol from his hip flask into the punch to make her drunk.

When he dragged her to the hallway and kissed her, she was on cloud nine. Noah Puckerman was one of the most attractive boys she had ever seen. And he wanted her. Getting her first kiss from him had been like a dream.  
In the next morning, she realized how wrong it had been from him to make her drunk without her knowing about it, and how naïve she had been.  
From that day on, she never had even looked at alcohol.

Kurt in front of her cocked his eyebrow. "Really? I thought your reputation would be more important to you."

"That he made me drunk and we made out won't ruin my reputation. It's not like I had an affair with a teacher."

She immediately regretted her words. Kurt paled instantly.  
In the next moment, he stepped forwards, eyes narrowed. "You said you would keep your mouth shut. I…" he trailed off and backed away.

"There you are."

Finn went over to them and gave Rachel a glass of coke with ice cubes and a lemon slice. Slowly, he looked back and forth between Rachel and Kurt. "Everything okay?"

"Finn, could you please bring me something to drink? I'm so thirsty.", Kurt said innocently, exaggeratingly fluttering his lashes.

Finn groaned, but took his glass anyway and went over to the bar.

After he was gone, Kurt's smile disappeared. Rachel gulped. Why did she even come to that dumb party?

"Listen", Rachel began before he could threaten her. "I'm sorry about what I said."

He opened and closed his mouth. "What?"

"I'm not your enemy.", Rachel went on. "And I don't care about that thing with you and Mr. Anderson. I will keep your secret."

Kurt's lips were a thin line now.

"I just don't want any trouble.", she said.

"Why should I believe you?", he asked skeptically. "I don't even know you."

"That's right. But Finn does. And I promised it to him."  
"You promised it to him.", Kurt repeated quietly.

"Yes?"

He didn't say anything for a while, eyeing her skeptically. Suddenly, he didn't look like that anymore, he looked…understanding, as if he just solved a mystery.

" _Oh_.", he finally said. Rachel confusedly frowned. "What?"

He smiled. "Don't worry, you wouldn't be the first."

Rachel had no idea what Kurt was talking about. "So many girls succumbed to his weird charm."

Kurt was surprised when Rachel snorted with laughter. "What's so funny?"

"I don't know whether someone has told you, but your brother is not charming at all."  
Confused, he watched Rachel while she cracked up.

When she calmed down, Finn joined them, handing Kurt his drink. "Here you are.", Finn said, annoyed.  
Kurt looked at Rachel, eyes narrowed. "I will keep an eye on you, Berry.", he hissed icily. With that, he turned on his heel and walked away.

"What was that?", Finn asked, irritated, looking after his brother. When she shrugged, he frowned.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. Just that he didn't trust me. He doesn't believe me I won't say anything." Finn sighed deeply.

"It's hard for him to trust other people." Questioning, she looked at him.

"Not many people would keep a secret like that, Rachel." He shrugged. "It's the opposite. Ninety percent of the people would sell information like that to the media or try blackmailing him. It wouldn't be the first time people spent time with us to find out a secret or something." He avoided her glance, looking at the dancing people around them.

"That doesn't sound nice."  
He sighed again.

"Yeah, it isn't."

She never thought like that about it. It was no excuse for Finn's behavior, but now, she could understand him and Kurt a little.

"What am I even doing here if people don't trust me?" Finn reached out, wanting to touch her face, but then, he let it be, dropping his hand. He took a sip from his glass. His second drink now.

"You are here because Mike invited you.", he finally said. "Yes, that's right", Rachel mumbled. "Mike. I wouldn't be here if I listened to you."

"That's not it."

"What is it, then?" Rachel didn't know why she was angry Finn didn't want her here.

"That's not the place where you belong, Rachel."

Ouch, that hurt. A lot.

"I…I didn't mean it like that", he immediately said. "Of course." Rachel turned away, watching someone jumping into the pool with his clothes.

"Hey, come on. I just wanted to say that I don't have a good feeling if you are around people like these. I feel responsible for you."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much.", she hissed. "I don't want to be a millstone around your neck. Go, do what you always do on parties", she said.

Finn nodded and downed his second drink. Then, he took her glass and put it down on a table. He took her hands and dragged her to the dancefloor. They started moving to the music, Finn's chest touched Rachel's.

"What are you doing?", Rachel asked, amused. "I'm doing what I always do at parties.", he laughed. She tripped, and Finn caught her easily. They were so close now; Rachel's heart was beating unnaturally fast.

Next to them, someone was cheering. Rachel looked around.

A lot of people were watching them.

Oh no.

She and Finn weren't hating each other anymore, but that was just too much for her.

"I need to pee.", she excused herself and let go of Finn.

She stumbled away before she could see his reaction.  
She ran along the hallway, avoiding dancing people.  
She was sure she had seen the toilet somewhere. Was it on the right?

But that hallway was so empty and deserted. Was that the right way? She had to think about Finn again. His touches, his glances, if she didn't know better, she would say he was flirting or something. When he turned up on her porch on Monday and explained that he didn't want to return to the beginning, she should've known it.

But she really needed to get her act together.  
She would freshen up and then dance with Finn.

Hopefully, that door would lead to the bathroom. She carefully opened the door. The room in front of her was so…dark. There were a lot of books. That was definitely not the bathroom! This had to be the library or something. But the Evans had way more books than the McKinley library. When Rachel was about to leave, she heard something.

Someone…panting?

 _Turn around and leave, goddamit_ , a voice in her head said, but it was too late.

She spotted Brittany, leaning against a shelf. She was moaning loudly. A loud smack could be heard.

"If you are as loud as now, I will stop." Rachel froze. She knew that voice from somewhere.

"Please, continue", Brittany begged. The girl who was kneeling in front of her, stood up. "Only if you beg me again."

Brittany kissed the girl passionately; the other girl kissed her right back. Rachel recognized the dark hair of that girl.

Princess Santana Maria Lopez.

 _Oh fuck_.

Rachel gasped after Brittany kissed Santana across the jawline.

Then, Santana spotted her standing on the doorway and her eyes widened.

"Britt, stop it", she whispered, panicked and pushed her away.

Rachel turned on her heel and sprinted away, leaving the library.  
She somehow got to the salon and ran to the winter garden, avoiding dancing people, and scanning the room for Finn.  
She spotted him with his brother, Sam and Puck near the pool. They were talking about something.

She needed a moment to calm down. Why did she keep on walking into people who didn't want to be seen?  
Was it a curse or something? Now, she was collecting secrets like other people collected bottles or something.

Rachel gave up.  
She would never have fun here with those people, Finn was right. She wanted to go over to Finn, asking him to bring her home, but he was standing near the pool, and she got nervous.

However, she decided to ignore it and walked over to the pool anyway. Puck spotted her first.

"Here she is!" She just nodded at him and breathed a sigh of relief when Finn came over to her. She never would've thought that Finn would be the one where she felt the safest at this insane party.

"Are you okay?", he asked. "I would like to go now", she said, sounding upset.

Finn frowned, but then, he nodded. He downed his glass of Scotch. "I'm gonna call Andy."

"Oh come on. Since when do you leave a party before 4 am?", Sam pouted, disappointed.

"Since I accompanied someone who wants to go home.", Finn retorted. "Come on, Rachel. Don't be a party pooper. Leave our friend here", Puck joked. He kneeled down, splashing her with the water of the pool.

Rachel froze. "Let it be", she hissed, a little bit too scared.

"Are you made out of sugar?", Sam laughed. He was wearing his black swimming trunks and came closer to her.  
Rachel backed away, clutching Finn's arm. She didn't care what the others thought of her anymore.

"Come on, Sam. Leave her alone", Finn ordered, but was ignored. Sam grabbed her purse and threw it over to a grinning Kurt who caught it easily.

"Sam, I'm warning you…" Rachel couldn't end her sentence because Sam suddenly pulled her into a hug and jumped together with her into the pool. She screamed when her skin made contact with the water.

Then, they submerged, and her heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly, she was no longer at the house of the Evans, but on a blue green lake.

She was nine years old, and she couldn't swim.

She couldn't breathe.

The kelp was holding her hostage in the depths of the lake, and she couldn't move her arms or legs. She lost the control over her body. The pressure on her chest was rising and rising.

And then, she had no other choice than to breathe in the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, shoot! Poor Rachel...A friend of mine is also scared of water :(


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

While Puck and Kurt were cracking up when Sam resurfaced, Finn stared down the ground of the pool. First, he had seen how Rachel had moved, but now, nothing.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Oh come on. As if we didn't know the trick to feign death.", Puck snorted with laughter, helping Sam out of the pool.

Rachel wasn't resurfacing.

Finn somehow knew that something was off. His heart was racing, and he quickly jumped in.

"Finn, I doubt that she…" He didn't hear the rest of Kurt's sentence anymore because he was underwater. Quickly, he swam down to Rachel, took her upper body and swam back to the surface with her.

She didn't move.

_Shit._

"Rachel", he panted when they were on the surface. He shook her. "Rachel!" Suddenly, she coughed, spitting out water, and gasped for air. He held her tight.

Rachel was frantic. "Get me out of here!", she screamed shrilly. "I have to get out of here!"

He nodded and swam to the edge with her. He then lifted her out of the water, and she sat down on the edge. Rachel had to cough again, and he just held her while she coughed out more water. "I want to leave.", she croaked, and Finn's heart skipped a beat.

He got up and helped her to her feet.  
She didn't look up, but he could see the tears which had mixed with the water.  
She almost fell down, so Finn lifted her in his arms, bridal style. Rachel didn't even protest, her whole body was trembling.

Livid, he turned to Sam who wasn't grinning anymore.

"You're such a dick.", Finn hissed quietly.

He would've shouted at him, but he didn't want to scare Rachel.  
With Rachel in her arms, he turned on his heel and left the winter garden through the backdoor.

Andy needed some minutes to arrive at Sam's place, but he had soft towels and some things to change. Rachel avoided his glance when Finn helped her dry her skin and her hair.

She was still shaking.

Not saying anything, Andy handed him another towel and Finn dried her hair. Maybe he was exaggerating, but he would continue rubbing her dry until she didn't shake anymore.

Even if it would take the entire night.

Rachel started sobbing even more, and Finn froze.  
Seeing a strong person cry like that hurt a lot, and he didn't know what to do. He could only continue rubbing her with the towels.

After she was dry, Finn helped her put off her blouse and put on his McKinley football sweater Andy had brought with him. Of course, the sweater was way too big for her, but it was better than wet clothes. Rachel leaned her head onto Finn's chest, still sobbing a bit.

"That whole thing was my fault.", Finn whispered. He should've convinced her to stay away from that party.

Rachel looked up to him. Although her eyes were still shimmering with tears, she looked almost normal again. Like the strong, combat-ready Rachel he knew. He was somewhat relieved.

"Come on, let's get you home.", he finally said, holding open the door of his limousine.

She got in and he followed suit. When Andy started the car, Finn's head started spinning. Right, he already had some drinks.

"I'm so scared of water.", Rachel next to him suddenly whispered. Finn frowned.

"Why?" It took her some minutes before she could answer.

"One of my dads used to love fishing. He took me with him to his boat to excursions. When I was nine, we had an accident." She stiffened a bit, and Finn could feel how horrible she felt right now. He took her ice-cold hand which felt so fragile right now.

But Rachel was the opposite of fragile.

"What happened?"

"A bigger boat crashed into us because it didn't see us coming. Our boot was destroyed, I almost drowned and my dad was in the ICU for weeks. Luckily, he fully recovered, but it was horrible."

Finn squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry", he said because he didn't know what else to say. He felt bad beause she had told him a traumatizing story, and the that was the only thing he could say.

"It's okay. You are not like your friends."

Finn sadly shook his head. "That's not true. I'm even worse than them." Rachel shook her head.

"But now, you aren't."

For the rest of the drive, they decided to say nothing, and Finn thought about the story she had told him.  
After some minutes, Rachel fell asleep on his shoulder and he carefully caressed her hand which luckily was warm again. Twenty minutes later, they were at Rachel's. Inside her house, there was still light, and he was supposed to wake her up, but he just couldn't. She looked so peaceful while she was sleeping.

"She is a good girl, Mr. Hudson", Andy suddenly said through the loudspeaker. Finn looked up. "Don't mess it up."

"I have no idea what you are talking about.", Finn answered.

But he didn't let go of Rachel's hand.

* * *

Rachel decided to spend the following day in her pajamas. Her dads were visiting some friends, so she had the whole house to herself. This was her relaxing day because she just wanted to forget what happened yesterday.

Currently, she was in the kitchen, trying to bake chocolate chip cookies. It didn't look that complicated in the videos when Jamie Oliver did it, but in real life, she was failing miserably.  
The dough looked so weird and she didn't know why. Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ringing. Rachel quickly cleaned her hands, frowning. Her dads weren't supposed to return until 8 pm. Why were they back, now?

The brunette quickly opened the door. "Why are you here so early? I thought you were…"

Rachel stopped talking when she saw Mercedes Jones on her porch, one hand on her hip, the other hand with her phone.

"Rachel Barbra Berry! Don't tell me that's you!", Mercedes exclaimed, entering.

"Mercedes, nice to see you. And yes, you may come in...", Rachel mumbled.

Actually, Mercedes had never been at her place. Or any of her classmates. She didn't want her worlds to collide. But right now, she couldn't care less. She had bigger fish to fry.

Rachel looked at Mercedes phone's display. She spotted a photo with her and Finn, her face was on his chest, her hands where around his neck.

Oh oh.

"Rachel? What the hell happened yesterday?", Mercedes asked softly, following her to the kitchen.

"I had been at Sam's party", Rachel answered.

"Yes I know. But I want to know what happened on this photo. I want to know everything.", she demanded, arms crossed.

Rachel sighed. Actually, she just wanted to forget everything. Mercedes looked around in the kitchen. "What happened here? Is this a battlefield?", she asked, eyeing the failed cookie dough and the mess with the flour and the chocolate pieces.

"I just wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but I'm not the best at baking, or cooking", Rachel shrugged.

Mercedes cocked an eyebrow. But then, she rolled up her sleeves.

"Listen, white girl. I'm gonna help you bake those cookies. And while doing that, you will tell me everything, deal?", she suggested, dumping her failed cookie dough into the trash.

Rachel sighed deeply. She was too tired to talk her out of that. "Okay."

"That was really charming of him to be honest", Mercedes commented after Rachel was done with the story. Now, the cookies were in the oven and they were sitting at the kitchen table.

"But on the other side, he is still Finn Hudson…", the black girl murmured, torn. Rachel had to agree.

But yesterday, he acted like a real gentleman. He had put her clothes on, he had held her hand after she had told him about the accident.

Last night had changed something between them, she could feel it. Her body had been shaking when Finn touched her.  
He had wrongly assumed that it had been because she was still feeling cold, but it had been because of his touch.

Mercedes next to her seemed to be fuming. "I can't believe Sam did that. Next time I'm gonna see him, I will kick his ass", she ranted, but Rachel could see the disappointment in her eyes.

Was there something she didn't know?

Mercedes always refused to talk about her love life because she would never fall for one of these arrogant snobs of McKinley, like she always said.

But the way she had looked at Sam when they met in the hallways spoke volumes.

When Rachel considered asking her about that, Mercedes opened her mouth again. "But on the other side, it was kind of cute Finn carried you in his arms. I can't believe it.", she mumbled, stunned.

Neither could Rachel. Especially because he had acted so arrogant and cold some weeks ago. That version of him didn't fit to the Prince Charming version from yesterday.

"If I hadn't seen the photo, I wouldn't have believed it.", Mercedes said, staring at the photo, not noticing that Rachel didn't say anything.

"Maybe he realized that Sam had crossed the line and he intervened. Maybe he is not that bad." She lifted her head as realization dawned on her.

"Oh, hell to the no…", she groaned. Rachel confusedly looked at her. "What?"

"You like Hudson, don't you? Admit it!", she said. When Rachel thought of an answer, the alarm for the cookies went off. "The cookies! We have to turn off the oven!", she said, walking over to the oven.

Mercedes frowned, but followed her anyway. They took out the cookies and went over to the table. Carefully, they put the still soft cookies on a plate.

"It's okay to like someone you are supposed to hate", Mercedes suddenly said, looking thoughtful all of a sudden. Rachel wondered whether she had experienced something like that, but she would ask her some other time.

"But I still can't believe it. Finn Hudson of all people, the freaking king of our school", the black girl mumbled, biting into a cookie. "Damn. Those are awesome", she gushed, chewing.

"I have no idea how that happened to be honest", Rachel sighed and took a big bite so that she didn't have to talk anymore. "Did you say thank you or something?", Mercedes wanted to know. Rachel shook her head. "But there is nothing between us. We are just…friends", she said.

 _Friends_.

She and Finn Hudson were friends.

If someone had told her weeks ago that the two of them would be friends, she would've laughed.

But now…

"You need to text him or something!", Mercedes insisted, handing her Rachel's phone.

"Okay, okay, I'm going to text him", she gave in.

_Rachel: Thank you. – R. B. B._

"What did you write?", Mercedes wanted to know.  
"I just thanked him, that's all."

Mercedes snorted and bit into another cookie. "Alright. I'm gonna text Sam some angry texts now.", she decided, dipping her cookie into a glass of milk.

When Mercedes was furiously typing in texts and before she could ask her why the hell she had Sam Evans' number, Rachel's phone vibrated.

_Finn: You never told me what that second B is supposed to mean_

_Rachel: Guess.- R.B.B._

_Finn : Barissa ? -F.C.H._

_Rachel : Nope.- R.B.B_

_Finn: Barbara.-F.C.H._

_Rachel: Almost.- R.B.B_

_Finn: Barbra.-F.C.H._

_Rachel: Not bad. You only needed three guesses.- R.B.B_

For a while, he didn't answer. Rachel stared at her display, expectantly waiting for another text. Finally, it came.

_Finn: Are you feeling better now?_

No initials. No jokes anymore. Rachel gulped. She shuddered when she thought about yesterday. She didn't want to think about it or about Monday when she had to return to school.

_Rachel: I'm scared of Monday. There are photos of us_

_Finn: Don't worry about that. People only see my wet back on the photo_

Was that an indirect flirt? Or did he mean it like that? She had no idea.

_Rachel: At least concerning that I can be happy  
_

She had to wait a bit for his answer. Did she cross a line? Oh no.

_Finn: Rachel Berry, are you trying to flirt with me?_

Rachel smiled and hid that smile under her pajama shirt. Mercedes looked up from her phone, cocking her head to the side.

"Why are you grinning like that?", she wanted to know.

"I don't", Rachel defended herself. "How about we watch a film or something while we eat the cookies? I have _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ on DVD", she quickly changed the topic. Mercedes looked skeptical first, but then, she nodded.

"Okay. But I won't let you get away next time like that.", she laughed while Rachel searched for the DVD.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The aftermath of Sam's party at McKinley *_*


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

After Rachel got out of her car on Monday, Finn was leaning against the fence, smirking at her. After that catastrophe in the enterprise of his grandparents, she never thought she would be happy to see him waiting for her.

"Hi", she said, breathlessly. He smiled even more. Obviously, he seemed to be happy to see her as well. "Hey."

"Are you my escort now?", she joked.

"I thought we could go the assembly together. Maybe I could protect you from the questions of the others."

Rachel nodded. They walked to the auditorium, just enjoying each other's company. On their way, a girl passed them who was in history with Rachel. She just stared at them, and Rachel stared back, craning her chin. The girl quickly went away.

"Hey, don't be so feisty", Finn laughed.

"What else am I supposed to do?", Rachel asked him. "If she stares at me, I stare back."

He looked at her. "You have to ignore her. It doesn't matter what they say behind your back. You don't need to care about that."

"But I do care."

"So? They don't need to know. Just pretend you don't care, and they will leave you alone. Look, I will show you how it's done." Finn changed his face expression from normal to an I-Don't-Give-A-Shit-expression and he looked so arrogant now.

"You look like you needed a punch in the face", she said dryly.

"I look like I would like to get punched in the face. That's the difference. Now, try."

Rachel tried imitating that expression, failing miserably according to Finn trying to bite back his laughter.

"Okay. Maybe it would be enough if you didn't look at others like you wanted to set them on fire or something." They were approaching the auditorium and Rachel felt more and more nervous with each step.

"Hudson!", someone behind them called out. The duo turned around. Santana and Puck were heading to their direction. "Hey, Rachel." Puck ruffled his mohawk, sheepish. "Sorry about Friday."

She wasn't sure whether he meant what happened at the pool or what had happened before. Because of Finn, she couldn't ask him. That he apologized surely had something to do with his best friend, but she was glad anyway.

"It's okay. You weren't the one who threw me into the pool." Surprised, Puck grinned at her as he expected another reaction.

Santana was just staring at her, saying nothing. That was unusual for her. Obviously, she knew that Rachel had been the one who had seen her and Brittany in the library.

Rachel smiled at her, but she didn't say anything. Santana just paled even more and looked like a ghost now.

"Can we enter now?", Finn asked his friends. They all nodded and went up the stairs to the auditorium.

During the assembly, everyone was staring at her, or so Rachel thought. Finn didn't show any emotions. That was not surprising at all because he had been doing that for 18 years now. He was used to that.

After the assembly, Finn and Puck went to their Spanish lessons while Santana and Rachel had geography. Before they parted ways, Finn mumbled: "Think of the punch in the face." Rachel had to bite back her laughter and quickly followed Santana.

The atmosphere was tensed between the two of them and Rachel didn't know what to say. Suddenly, Santana stopped in her tracks, holding her back with her arm.

"What you have seen on Friday…you can't tell anyone, capish?", Santana instructed coldly.

Rachel froze. "Of course not, Santana. But why? There are a lot of out and proud students here at McKinley…" Santana glared at her.

"Listen, dwarf. I already have a lot of problems in my life now.", she hissed, intimidating yet panicked.

Rachel couldn't imagine what problems a _freaking Princess_ could have.

"I won't tell anyone, okay?", Rachel promised.

Santana looked tired, but also a bit relieved now. "You need to promise it, Berry. There is so much at stake, do you understand? You have no idea how much pressure I'm under. And Britt means everything to me."

Suddenly, Santana didn't look like the high and mighty princess or like a popular cheerio. She looked so…fragile and young.  
Rachel realized that Santana was just a girl, a girl like her who happened to have a crown and a popular state. A girl with complexes.

"I won't tell anyone, I promise, Santana. Your secret is save with me." She nodded, more relieved. But then, her face expression changed, and she looked at her coldly.

"If I find out you told anyone, I'm gonna make your life a living hell."

With that, she turned on her heel and went to the classroom without looking at her. Rachel shuddered.

Somehow, she survived the rest of the day. Although people were talking behind her back, she tried to ignore it, but nobody dared to make fun of her.

During lunch break, Rachel sat at the usual table with Mercedes, chatting about the event management club.

"Is this place free?", Kurt Hummel suddenly asked them.

Rachel and Mercedes turned their heads, staring at him. "Yes?", Rachel answered carefully, but it sounded more like a question than an answer.

Kurt sat down next to them and started eating his salad. Mercedes threw Rachel a questioning glance, but she just shrugged helplessly. She had no idea what Kurt was doing there. Maybe he wanted to keep an eye on her like he had said on the party.

Rachel looked over to the table where Finn was sitting. The atmosphere didn't seem so good that day. Finn and Mike discussed something, Artie read his book and Puck stared down his phone while Quinn was trying to talk to him. Brittany and Santana didn't look at each other. Sam was nowhere to be seen.

"He doesn't know I joined you.", Kurt suddenly said. He took a sip from his water bottle. "I'm here because I wanted to apologize for Friday."

"But you didn't do anything.", Rachel answered, perplexed.

He shook his head. "My friends and I misbehaved."

"And that's why you eat lunch with us?", Mercedes asked skeptically, cocking her eyebrow.

Kurt just shrugged. "I have seen how off people are acting now. If I sit here with you, they won't dare coming over." He pointed at a group of students staring at their direction.

"And I also wanted to ask you how you are.", he added, turning to Rachel.

Rachel couldn't hide her surprise. Since when did he care about that? He was always so skeptical. "I wish that what happened on Friday didn't happen. But I'm fine now."

"Sam sometimes doesn't know when he crosses the line."

Rachel shrugged.

"But I know him for a long time.", he went on. "He really thought it would be funny."

"What he did was the opposite of funny.", Mercedes hissed angrily and was surprised when Kurt nodded.

"It sucked. And I told him so.", Kurt told them.

Rachel looked up. "Really?"

"Yes, of course."

Rachel didn't know what to say. "Thank you, that was nice of you.", she finally said.

Kurt smiled and continued eating his salad. Mercedes and Rachel exchanged glances, but then, they also ate their food in silence.

After a while, Mercedes started telling them about the new fashion blog she had read. At first, it was weird for Rachel to make small talk while Kurt was sitting next to them, but he participated at the discussion and even gave them some fashion advice.

"You need to see Rachel's closet. She even has sweatshirts with cats on the front.", Mercedes just told Kurt. He laughed.

"That doesn't sound that nice. Luckily, we have to wear school uniforms.", he chuckled.

"Hey! They are not that bad! My dads gave them to me", Rachel defended herself, but her heart warmed up a bit when she saw how good they all got along.

Maybe Kurt really wanted to be nice. He wouldn't be the first one who would surprise her in that family.

When they were done eating, Rachel retrieved a box, putting it in the middle of the table.

"Those are the leftovers of the cookies from the weekend. I had to hide them before my dads would eat everything.", she smirked.

Kurt's eyes lit up. "Did you bake them by yourself?"

"Mercedes and I did.", Rachel answered. "On Saturday, in my pajamas."

"That sounds awesome.", he said and took a cookie. "And so much better than my Saturday. There was a business dinner.", he grimaced.

Mercedes and Rachel smiled compassionately. "That doesn't sound nice.", Mercedes commented.

"It isn't. To be honest, I would have loved to spend that day in my pajamas as well."

Rachel couldn't imagine someone like Kurt Hummel like that, and when she tried, she had to grin.

After lunch break, Rachel and Mercedes went to the group room to prepare the meeting. Then, they waited for the other members. As usual, Finn sat on his place near the window, arms crossed. Rachel realized that he really must hate those meetings because he would rather be on the field with his bros. And it hurt a little to see him like that.

"Rachel?" Ryder just came to her.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to know whether you have time after the meeting to listen to the music I've found. I need to sort out the top three tracks."

Rachel checked her calendar. "Okay, I have time.", she confirmed. Ryder smiled. "Great."

Finn smirked when he looked back and forth between Rachel and Ryder. "What?", she mouthed.

Finn typed something into his phone. Rachel's phone vibrated.

_Finn: He is crushing on you._

Rachel rolled her eyes, deciding to ignore him.

"Okay, guys. What did you do for the party?", Mercedes started the meeting now that everyone was there.

"I have a lot of great offers for decoration.", Tina said, retrieving her notes with contact information.

"Thanks for the tips again, Finn." Surprised, Rachel looked over to Finn, who nodded at Tina. He helped his teammates voluntarily? Without her noticing?

"I made some designs for the invitations.", Matt told the others, handing Mercedes an USB stick. She opened its document and showed its picture on the overhead projector.

Rachel gasped. On the first design, there was the picture Maxwell had taken back then in the boutique. The one where Finn asked her for a dance.

She couldn't believe Finn had sent the pictures to Matt without her knowing.

"That looks great", Tina said, and the others agreed. "That dress is just beautiful. Do you have more of those?", she asked Finn. He shook his head. "That's unique.", he answered apologetically.

"That design is gorgeous, Matt.", Mercedes complimented him. "Maybe we could change the type size a bit?", she suggested. Rachel nodded. "Yes. And another style of lettering?", she added, trying to hide how insecure she felt right now because of the photo.

She had to think back when her hand was in Finn's. How close they had been to each other. Something in her warmed up and for the rest of the meeting, she didn't dare to look at Finn's direction.

When they were done, Tina, Kitty and Matt said goodbye and left. Ryder went over to Rachel to show her the music on his laptop, Mercedes was talking to Finn, he nodded and took notes. Rachel frowned. What was that? Too late, she realized that Ryder was talking to her.

"Sorry, what did you say?", she asked.

"That party is going to be the best in the history of McKinley.", he repeated, smiling. "That would be great. We are planning it for a long time. I honestly can't wait."

"Me neither. We really need to dance together." Ryder was still smiling. Rachel gulped.

_He is crushing on you._

Mercedes was telling her so for months. Maybe they were right. But for her, Ryder had always be the little, ambitious boy. She thought he was nice because he wanted to be the next team leader after she and Mercedes graduated.

She never thought that he actually liked her.

Ryder next to her touched her knee with his. She scooted her chair further away.

Why did she do that? It was just a harmless situation, right?

She threw Finn an angry glance, but he had seen it. He smirked knowingly. Rachel turned back to Ryder. "If I have time, then of course.", she smiled.

"That would be great.", he answered, and he blushed a bit.

_Oh boy._

"Yes.", she said, louder than intended. Rachel then cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we listen to the music?"

They retrieved their headphones and started listening to the samples Ryder had found. Finally, they decided on three tracks.

Rachel retrieved her calendar to note the names of the tracks. "You turn eighteen this Saturday?", Ryder asked her when he spotted a note in her calendar.

"Yes?", she answered. "And what are you planning?", he asked. Mercedes, who had listened to that conversation, answered. "She is going to…" She stopped talking after Rachel threw her a warning glance.

At McKinley, it was nobody's business what she was doing on her birthday. That was her private life, and she didn't want anybody knowing about it.

"Nothing special", Mercedes ended her sentence. "You didn't tell me you are going to be grown up", Finn said and got up. "Why didn't you invite me?"

"Because you don't know how to behave.", Rachel retorted dryly.

"I'm gonna prove you wrong", he said, but it didn't sound like he would.

Rachel took a deep breath. _Get your act together, girl_ , she berated herself in her mind.

"You are not invited, Finn."

"Okay." That sounded a lot like "We will see."

Ryder cocked his eyebrows, but then, he got up. "See you next time, guys." He waved at the trio and left.

After they had put their things into their respective bags, the three of them decided to leave as well.  
Rachel wondered what Mercedes and Finn were talking about. Hopefully she didn't tell him that she was gonna spend her birthday playing games with her relatives.

"Lynn totally crushes on you.", Finn said while they were leaving the library.

"That's nonsense", Rachel protested.

"I have to agree.", Mercedes supported him. Rachel glared at her.

"What? I'm telling you so for months. He had been really, really nice to you, it's kind of obvious."

"How is it obvious? It is not obvious. I'm the leader of this club, he has to be nice." Mercedes laughed. "Okay, its obvious to everyone but you." Finn also laughed and she glared at him as well.

Since when did those two get along so well?

She didn't know whether she liked it.

Rachel was a bit relieved when they parted ways when Mercedes needed to go to the bus stop where her dad was already waiting for her with his car, honking.

Finn and Rachel went to the parking together. "You're raise that poor boy's hope.", he commented. "What's your problem, Finn? Are you jealous?", she asked jokingly.

Finn, however buried his hands into his pants, frowning.

"If someone asks you for a dance, then it will be me.", he said after a while.

"You can't be serious. You are really jealous of Ryder?", Rachel asked incredulously.

"No." He was still not looking at her. "But that guy shouldn't build his hopes up."

"What hopes?", she asked.

"That he has to be like…really nice to you so that you smile. That's pathetic."

Rachel stopped in her tracks. "That's not true!"

"Really? You never smiled at me like that."

"Because you never gave me a reason to do it!"

For a moment, he was just staring at her. Why was he like that all of a sudden? He seemed so…fed up, and she didn't get why.

"Thanks that you watched over me today", Rachel said quickly, changing the topic. Finn just nodded.

"I mean it. Nobody dared to say bad things to me. It would have been different if it hadn't been for you.", she added. When he didn't say anything, Rachel continued babbling. "Your brother sat down next to us and…"

"I'm sorry.", he cut her off, looking at her.

"For what?", she asked.

"That I didn't give you so many reasons to smile at me like you did it with Ryder."

"Finn…"

"I will change that", he went on. Rachel gulped. Why did her knees feel like butter right now? She wanted to touch him so bad right now. But she just couldn't.

"I need to leave now, my dads are awaiting me", she said quickly. When she turned around and went to her car, she could still feel Finn staring at her.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Rachel's birthday!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update cause your views really inspired me and I'm in a good mood :)
> 
> I love you guys, you are awesome xD xD
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

When Rachel woke up at 6 am on her eighteenth birthday, she honestly didn't feel any different.  
She took her phone, checking her texts.  
On 1 am, Mercedes had sent her a voice memo, quietly singing happy birthday.  
On 3 am, Tina had sent her a nice text as well.  
And Ryder just sent her a birthday emoji.  
Since she couldn't sleep anymore, she got up and went to her desk, checking her calendar.

The next school party was just around the corner and they still needed to plan a lot of things.

Principal Figgins had told them that the design of the invitations had been praised a lot.

Rachel stared turned the page of her calendar – and gasped.

When did she write down Finn's name? With hearts? What the actual fuck?

She didn't even notice!

When she thought about Finn Hudson, there was no longer hate and distrust, but something…warm and thrilling. She never would have thought she would one day stop hating him. It was the opposite, now.

The door opened, and LeRoy and Hiram entered. "I knew you were awake!", Hiram laughed and went over to the desk. He pecked her. "Happy Birthday, darling!" LeRoy followed suit. "Thank you, dads", Rachel beamed.

Together, they went to the living room.

"Surprise!", her family shouted. Rachel yelped, surprised.

Her grandparents, her aunt Tilda, her uncle Tom and her cousin Johnny were standing in her living room, starting to sing Happy Birthday.  
Rachel could feel some tears of joy running down her cheeks.

Her dads did a really got job decorating the room with balloons and chains of lights. On the table, she could spot a lot of presents.

They all ate a great breakfast and then, it was time for the presents. Uncle Tom, aunt Tilda and Johnny gave her new headphones and a necklace, her grandparents gave her a perfume and chocolate and her dads gave her a new laptop.

"And this one? Who gave it to me?", Rachel asked, pointing at a big box wrapped in black wrapping paper with a blue ribbon on top.

"No idea. Maybe your secret lover?", Hiram joked. "It came by post, no address of the sender", LeRoy added. "But we all know who it is, right?"

"OMG, you have a boyfriend?", Johnny asked, excited.  
"No!", Rachel shouted, blushing.

"Come on, open it!", Tilda urged her.

Rachel took the package and went over to the sofa, sitting down. It was dead silent everyone waited for her to open it. She opened the box. Inside, there was a bag. She lifted it out of the box with eyes wide open.

The bag was black, made out of leather and with white pearls on the front. Carefully, she opened the bag. There were a lot of pockets inside, for her laptop as well.

It was the most elegant bag she had ever seen. And then, she noticed something she hadn't seen on the first sight. Her initials on the side - R.B.B.

Rachel gasped. She felt like she was dreaming. Behind her, Tilda was screaming delightedly. She looked down the box and spotted a card. It was cream colored with golden flecks. Someone had written something.

_Happy Birthday, Rachel. – F._

That was all.

But it was enough to make those butterflies in her stomach move again.

She didn't know how to react. That had to be the most expensive present someone had ever given to her. But she didn't want to think about the prize. It was kind of cute Finn had thought about her birthday. He must've noticed that her bag was old.

"That was so thoughtful of that boy", Tilda gushed.

"And he is rich", Johnny added. "But I doubt that he paid something if his grandparents own that place"

"Guys!", LeRoy cut them off, pointing at the table where there was coffee, tea and the birthday cake. "Leave Rachel alone and sit down!"

"You don't have to talk about a present, okay? That young man had thought about you and that's a wonderful gesture. You need to thank him afterwards", Hiram winked. "Now go, blow your candles."

There was only one wish all the years. _NYADA_ , and maybe Harvard on the second place. But this year, another wish was in her head.

She had to concentrate when she closed her eyes. "On your eighteenth birthday, you can make two wishes", Hiram next to her winked. "Yes, that's right", LeRoy agreed.

But why was Finn's name the first she had to think about?

* * *

It was one of the best birthdays ever. After their brunch, they went to the park to make a new family photo, needing more than ten attempts to make it perfect. They decided to take a picnic basket to eat dinner outside because it was unusually warm outside.

In the afternoon, Mercedes came over to bring Rachel her birthday present, a biography of Barbra Streisand.  
Actually, she wanted to leave again to let the family celebrate together, but her dads insisted that she needed to stay.

They decided to play Twister and then frisbee, but since the wind was too strong, they all had to run a lot.

After everyone was tired, they all ate chicken-avocado-tomato sandwiches (without chicken for Rachel, of course), strawberry-chocolate pancakes and pink lemonade her dads had prepared at home.

Rachel was surprised how well Mercedes got along with her family. She never wanted to mix the McKinley world and her world at home, but it was not a bad idea actually.

After everyone went home, Rachel decided to go to bed. After all, she was up since six am and tired as hell.  
When she went to bed, she looked over to the box with her new bag.

She didn't know whether Finn knew how happy he made her with his present. She never wanted to return that bag. She quickly retrieved her phone and dialed Finn's number. It was ringing and ringing. After she wanted to give up, he picked up.

"Rachel Berry." It almost sounded like he expected her call.

"Finn Hudson" If he said her entire name, so could she.

"Are you ok?", he asked. In the background, she could hear music which got quieter. She wondered where he was now and what he was doing.

"I'm fine. I just looked at my new bag", she answered, carefully touching the leather.

"Do you like it?", he asked, and Rachel wished she could see how he looked now. What he wore at the moment. What was wrong with her?

"It's gorgeous. You know that it wasn't necessary, right?", she asked. She closed the bag and sat down at the desk.

"I wanted to give something to you. And I thought that the Finn 2.0 was a great choice"

"The Finn 2.0?"

"That's the name of the model."

"You give me a bag which you called after yourself?"

"I didn't, it was grandmother. There is also a Kurt. And some which are called after my parents. But that one is called Finn 2.0 because I made it more feminine. Kurt helped me a bit because I'm not that experienced."

Rachel grinned. "Do you give _Hummel-Hudson_ things to all of your friends?", she asked.

Finn didn't answer for a while. "No.", he finally said. Rachel didn't know what to say. What did that mean for them?

"If you and Kurt one day take over the firm, you have to call a bag after me", Rachel said to break the silence.

"Can I tell you a secret, Rachel?", Finn suddenly said quietly.

"You can tell me everything", Rachel answered softly.

There was a pause and she could hear steps. Now, she couldn't hear music anymore.

"I…I don't want to take over the firm of my grandparents." If he had been here, she would've stared at him.

"And to be honest, I don't want to go to Harvard either.", he went on.

Her heart was beating so loud she could hear it in her ears. "What do you want?"

He laughed bitterly. "It's the first time someone asked me that question."

"But that question is so important."

He didn't say anything for a while.

"I have no other choice, you know. I mean it is clear that Kurt will take over _Hummel-Hudson's_ one day and I will take over the car business of mom and Burt, but I want to know how it's like to have a choice.  
I mean, I love cars, but I want to find out what my true passion is. But my whole life is already predefined: McKinley, Harvard and the firm, that's all."

Rachel clutched her phone. That was the most honest thing she had ever heard from him. She couldn't believe he had told her that secret.

"My dads always told me that it doesn't matter where I'm from and that I can do whatever I want to. I think each human deserves these possibilities."

Finn sighed deeply. "Sometimes…" he trailed off, not knowing whether he should continue.

"Sometimes, I feel like I can't breathe because everything around me suffocates me."

"Oh, Finn", Rachel whispered. Her heart was aching for him. She always thought he enjoyed the power of his family name. But now, it all made sense: his strain each time they were talking about universities and his reaction when his grandparents showed up.

Suddenly, Rachel got it. She understood why he acted like that at the beginning of the schoolyear. His I-Don't-Give-A-Damn behavior.

"That schoolyear…is the last one where you don't need to take on responsibility", she mumbled.

"It is my last chance to be free.", he agreed.

"I wish I could be by your side now", she said before she could reconsider her words.

"What would you do if you were here?", he wanted to know. Now, he didn't sound desperate, but a bit…teasing.

"I would pull you into a hug.", she answered earnestly.

"I think I would like that."

They never really hugged and if he were by her side now, she would never say something like that. But now, with his voice in her ear, nothing felt impossible.

"Did you celebrate your Birthday well?", Finn asked her after a while.

"Yes", she answered and started telling her about her day, which presents she got, about the delicious picnic and that she beat Mercedes and her aunt at Frisbee, but Mercedes beat her at Twister.  
Finn laughed a lot, glad about the change of topic.

After that, they talked about everything and nothing, not noticing how fast the time passed.

Before she could blink, it was already three am and they were still talking, wide awake.

Rachel stared at the Football sweater which laid on her dresser.

And only thought about Finn.

* * *

Principal Figgins looked at Rachel with his deep brown eyes.

"Did I get that right, Ms. Berry?", he asked her, frowning. "You want me to cancel Mr. Hudson's punishment?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, sir."

He looked skeptical. "Why shall I do that? The term isn't over yet"

"He was really engaged, Sir", Rachel said. "He had great ideas and he was a great source of inspiration"

Figgins leaned back, crossing his arms. He seemed to consider it. "And the football team needs Finn more at the moment. Sam Evans is a good quarterback, but not as experienced. That's also what Coach Beiste said at the interview for the _McKinley Blog_."

Figgins frowned even more. "And you don't say it because that boy messed up and you want to get rid of him?"

Rachel shook her head. "Now way, Sir. I'm just thinking about what's good for our school. He supported us and now he needs to support his team again. We can't allow another defeat like last Friday." That seemed to be a weak point.

The principal's eyes widened, and he stiffened a bit. "I understand." He nodded and Rachel held her breath. "Alright. Mr. Hudson may return to his football team."

Rachel smiled thankfully, but he lifted his finger. "But only after the party took place. I don't want to risk that he thinks of something to ruin our event."

Rachel nodded. "Of course, Sir."

"And please don't tell anyone for now."  
He shooed her out of his office after he called Coach Beiste on his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Halloween party!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The party was a success. It was even better than Rachel expected.

The decoration Tina and Kitty had found looked awesome.  
Everywhere, there were thin spider webs and more than fifty candles. They decided not to switch on the chandelier but to use candleholders on each table to make the atmosphere spookier and more mysterious.

The hall was filled with a lot of people, every table was occupied. Right now, Principal Figgins was greeting the guests in a speech, Rachel, Mercedes and the rest of the event management team were watching him from the side of the stage. When he praised them for the organization, Kitty stepped forwards and waved at the audience like the queen.

Mercedes tried to bite back her laughter and Rachel also needed to grin.

But honestly, the all looked like kings and queens. Rachel was wearing the dress of the archive of the _Hummel-Hudson's_ , Kitty wore an [apricot gown](https://www.nextprom.com/content/res/large/l11/0001148_peach_casual_dresses_with_lace_sleevesapricot_peach_prom_dresses_with_lace_overlay_wm.jpeg) which went perfect with her blond hair, [Mercedes'](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0835/4285/products/turquoise-lace-ball-gown-wedding-dress-jojodress-rs6805_3_1024x1024.jpg?v=1472080926%20) was turquoise, and Tina [wore a dark red one](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2555/4546/products/11201903220947111_1200x1200.jpg?v=1553219417).  
The boys also looked fabulous. Matt wore a grey suit which looked similar to Finn's, Ryder looked like he was from the nineteenth century with his hat, the black suit and the beige scarf.

"Don't worry, Finn's coming", Mercedes whispered into her ear. "I have no idea what you are talking about.", Rachel answered. That was a lie. Finn didn't show up until now, neither did his friends or Kurt. But she thought he had seen his grandparents because they were part of the managing-committee of the parents.

After Figgins' speech, everyone applauded, and Rachel went over to the buffet with Mercedes.

Suddenly, doors flew open and everyone turned their heads, Rachel included. Her heart skipped a beat. Finn and his clique entered the hall with their more than perfect outfits.

Finn was wearing the suit, but the others were good-looking as well.  
Kurt wore a suit similar to Finn's, but with a silver jacket.  
All the others wore expensive looking designer clothes, one more stunning than the next.

However, they didn't seem to like the party, and they were not trying to hide it. Quinn who walked around with her beautiful [silver gown](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1lN6dBN9YBuNjy0Ffq6xIsVXaZ.jpg) like a true queen, looked unimpressed.

Santana, who wore a [tight black dress](https://www.dhresource.com/0x0/f2/albu/g7/M00/55/63/rBVaSlpJohOAIZQAAAZX7cp-fgM806.jpg) with killer heels, wrinkled her nose in distaste. When she spotted Rachel, her eyes narrowed. She grabbed Brittany's hand, who wore a [glittery gown](https://picture-cdn.wheretoget.it/07kye9-i.jpg), and wanted to go to the other direction.

"But Santana, I want to eat those chocolate covered strawberries!", she pouted.

"Later Britt, I promise", Santana answered softly and dragged her away.

Finn walked over to Rachel. His outfit took her breath away- again. "How is it going?", he asked casually, pretending he didn't just come one hour too late.

"Perfect.", Mercedes answered for her. Apparently, Rachel had stared at him too long.

Finn nodded. "That's great."

"I hope it will be better than the last party or else we will leave", Sam next to him mumbled.

"Don't pretend you're not good enough for our parties", Mercedes hissed with gritted teeth. Surprised, Rachel looked at her.

"I don't just pretend.", Sam shrugged.

Mercedes next to her seemed to be fuming. She balled her fists. "You're such a jer…"

"Guys! Chill, okay?", Finn ordered. He threw Sam a warning glance and the blond boy turned away from Mercedes. The black girl snorted. "If you excuse me, I will perform in a few minutes." She turned on her heel and stomped to the stage.

Rachel confusedly looked after her. What was that?

Is if that never happened, Finn turned to the buffet, looking at the appetizers. He took one of them and tasted it.

"So much better than last time"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "You recommended that caterer yourself."

He smirked at her and eyed her outfit. Suddenly, he started smiling earnestly. "You look beautiful in that dress", he said.

Dammit, there were those butterflies in her stomach again...

"You have already seen me in that dress, Finn."

"That doesn't change the fact that you look stunning."

"Thank you. You also look stunning."

Suddenly, Finn took her hand, leading her to the dance floor. The orchestra just started playing "Skyfall" by Adele with Mercedes singing. Rachel looked over to his friends, but they were all busy dumping some alcohol of their hip flasks into their glasses.

Only Kurt was looking at them with a weird face expression.

Rachel turned to Finn again. "May I ask you for a dance?" Rachel bit back her laughter. "Come on. I even took lessons from Kurt", Finn whined a bit.

Rachel then nodded earnestly. "Of course, I would like to."

Finn took her hand and laid his other hand on her back. They started slowly dancing to the music.

"Wow, you really took lessons", Rachel said, impressed. "But you need to relax a bit", she added softly.

Finn grimaced. "It's not as easy at it looks", he explained, but his face expressions softened anyway.

Rachel, on the other hand, had a pained face expression all of a sudden. "Rachel, what is it?", Finn asked, concerned.

"I have thought about what you have said on my birthday. And then…" She cleared her throat, feeling that Finn tensed up a bit. "…I talked to Principal Figgins. We think that you should return to the football team."

Finn halted in his tracks, but then, he continued dancing as if she never said anything. "What?", he croaked.

"You were wonderful for our team, and Figgins needs to reward that." With her soft tone, she wanted Finn to calm down, but it was the opposite, actually.

Finn just stared at her. And then, he pulled her closer to him. Rachel forgot how to breathe. Luckily, nobody seemed to notice what happened between the two of them.

"You…" Finn trailed off after the chains of lights suddenly went out. Mercedes looked shocked after her microphone didn't work anymore. The only light source were the candles.

"Finn, I swear, if it is one of your tricks, I will…"

"It isn't", Finn cut her off. He really seemed to be surprised, just like Rachel. "We have to go to the power-distribution. The orchestra can't perform like that. The mood among the guests will be bad in a few minutes."

Rachel nodded and Finn took her hand, leading her to the basement of the school. To be honest, she enjoyed that feeling while he was holding her hand and was more than disappointed when he let go of her.

In the basement, it was even darker. Finn retrieved his phone, opening the torch app.

Rachel frowned. "Should I be alarmed that you know where the power-distribution is?", she asked jokingly.

Finn just smiled venturesomely. He opened the fuse box and did something; Rachel had no idea what exactly.

Suddenly, the lights went on again. Rachel sighed, relieved and Finn closed the fuse box again. They both went up the stairs, but when they where almost out of the basement, Finn grabbed her hand, making her turn around.

"Wait.", he said. "You really thought it was one of my tricks?" He sounded really surprised. But to be honest, Rachel did.

Even if they were no enemies anymore, she still didn't quite trust him. And she also remembered what Kurt said at Sam's party back then.  
Besides, she had promised Mercedes to be careful.

"Maybe for one millisecond", she admitted sheepishly.

Finn looked her deep in the eyes. "I would never to that again, especially now that I know how hard you worked on that event."

Rachel looked down. "I'm sorry", she said quietly. "I was just…scared. That it would be like on the Back-To-School party."

Finn immediately shook his head. "No." He took a step towards her.

His face was so close now. Rachel couldn't imagine how it would be to not see him anymore at the club meetings. Would there still be a reason to spend time with him? He would train with his bros all the time. Would he spend the evenings with his friends, partying and drinking instead of texting with her about Broadway, music or other things?

Would he realize that their worlds were too different?

Rachel enjoyed those weeks with him so much and she didn't want to lose him that fast. It was clear which world Finn would eventually choose, and it hurt so much right now.

"Well, that was our last task as colleagues.", Rachel croaked and looked him deep in the eyes.

"That's right", Finn said quietly.

For a while, they were just looking at each other. Then, Rachel decided to break the silence. She gave Finn her hand. "It was nice to work with you", she said as formal as possible.

At first, Finn seemed surprised. But then, she could see another emotion in his eyes: longing. He took her hand, holding it tight. "It sounds like you say goodbye."

Rachel realized that he was right. And also that she didn't want it. She wanted him close to her. She wanted to know everything about him.

Rachel didn't know what happened to her. She was craving his closeness for a reason. She didn't want their shared time to end. She wanted him to touch her.

_Everywhere._

"Finn…", she murmured.

"Yes…", he answered, sounding as confused as he looked. In the next moment, he pulled her close to him.

And then, he pressed his lips on hers.

Rachel couldn't think anymore. Her whole body was feeling like she was on fire. She pulled him closer to her.

Finn kissed her like he had never did anything else. Her knees would give in any moment, but it didn't matter because he would be there to catch her.

Rachel wanted more of him. _More._

She moaned quietly into his lips. She wanted to undress him, right there on the stairs of the basement. She didn't care whether someone saw her.

She wanted him to leave marks on her body, everywhere. She wanted a proof that she didn't imagine things.

"Rachel…" She thought she knew each tone of Finn's voice, but that one was new. He touched her face, each touch felt so fragile, he caressed her cheekbones. "Rachel.", he whispered.

Rachel leaned forward and kissed him again. She wanted him so bad. She wanted to shout his name. Finn, _Finn_. Again, and again and again Finn.

"Finn", another, stern voice called out.

Both of them jumped apart. Rachel almost tripped over her dress, but Finn caught her in time.

They looked up. James Hudson was standing there on the top of the stairs. Rachel's heart skipped a beat.

"Your grandmother searches for you."

Finn nodded. "I will be there in a second."

Mr. Hudson cocked his eyebrows. "She doesn't want to see you in a second, she wants to see you _now_."

Finn stiffened. Rachel could hear how he sighed quietly. Then, he lifted her hand and kissed its back. "I'm sorry", he whispered and went up the stairs to his grandfather who was waiting for him with a cold glance.

Rachel stayed behind, wondering for what he just apologized.

* * *

"I told you, you have to stay away from that girl."

Finn was staring out of the window. He felt sick, but actually, he should feel great now. He wanted to return to Rachel, to her beautiful mouth and the feeling he had around her.

If they hadn't been interrupted, he would have done more than just kissing.

"I'm talking to you", James Hudson said sternly. Finn was sure he would throw the glass of Cider at him at any moment. Telling Andy he would drive home with his grandparents was the dumbest idea he ever had.

"Finn, love, we only want your best.", Elaine Hummel added, more diplomatic.

Finn wasn't able to look at any of them. If he did, he could do horrible things to them. Why did it happen today? Why did his grandfather catch them when he kissed Rachel?

"We don't think a scholarship holder from the middle class with two homosexual fathers is the right one for you.", Elaine went on. Finn looked up. How the hell did they know so much about Rachel?

But actually, nothing surprised him in this family anymore.

"You deserve someone better. Someone like Quinn Fabray. I have heard you two get along very well, why don't you invite her for dinner?", his grandmother asked softly. Obviously, she wanted to lighten up the mood, but it was too late for that.

"Quinn and I- that doesn't have a future, grandmother." Only because Quinn was the daughter of wealthy hoteliers, that didn't make her better than Rachel.

Rachel was working harder than any other person he knew. She was intelligent and beautiful and a good listener. And an even better kisser.

He wished they had more time. Those few minutes definitely weren't enough for him.

"You are embarrassing our family if you start something with that gold digger", grandfather hissed. "I can't believe you are doing this. Your parents and we raised you better than that."

Finn tried to ignore him, he really tried. But he could no longer do that. Not if he talked about Rachel like that.

Angry, he looked at his grandfather. " _Shut up._ "

Grandmother next to him gasped, Kurt stiffened. He threw him a pleading glance, but Finn ignored it.

Kurt was allowed to sleep with his teacher, but he wasn't allowed to spend time with the people he liked? How was that fair?

The car stopped and they unfastened their seatbelts. After they got out, grandfather took Finn's shoulder and turned him around.

"Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?", he growled. He lifted his hand and punched Finn straight in the face. Finn fell down, he could feel the pain immediately and some stars were dancing in front of his face.

Anyway, he somehow got up and wanted to leap at grandfather. But someone held him back. Finn tried to break away from the grip, but Kurt was stronger than he looked.

"Was that really necessary, grandfather?", Kurt shouted angrily.

Elaine lead her husband away. "Yes. I know you don't like violence, son, but sometimes, I have no other choice. That happens if your brother hangs out with white trash.", James hissed.

With that, he went inside. Finn wiped away the blood from his face with his back of his hand. Kurt next to him put his hands on his hips.

"Finn. Is she really worth all the trouble?" Finn looked at him, too churned to think about that question.

"Mind your own shit", Finn growled and turned around, leaving their estate. While running, he dialed the number of Puck.

He really needed some distraction.

* * *

Finn needed three drinks to calm down. He was leaning against the wall of the parlor of Puck's parents, drinking Scotch out of a crystal glass.

"Well, look at that, whom do we have here? The prodigal son reappeared", Sam behind him said. Finn turned around and looked at his grinning friend. He already put off his costume like all of them and only wore jeans and a white shirt.

"Why are you even here?", Sam asked, but then he spotted the bruise on his face. "That looks nasty, man", he commented, eyebrows cocked.

Finn didn't answer, instead, he downed the rest of his drink. Although he was used to alcohol, his cheeks already felt numb.

"Leave him alone, Sam", Puck, who was sitting on the sofa, said. On his lap, Finn spotted a girl, caressing his thigh. She seemed familiar to Finn, and when he lifted his head, he knew why.

Kitty Wilde.

Last time Finn saw her with a guy, she was making out with Artie, but it was not unusual something like that happened in their clique.

"What's wrong with you, Hudson?", Sam asked, leading him to one of the sofas. Finn sat down, accepting the other glass of a cocktail his friend was giving to him.

"The Finn I grew up with would've beaten the crap out of the guy who did that. He never would've accepted he had been thrown out of the football team. And he never would've done the dirty work for others."

The event management work was dirty work? How dared he saying that? But Finn didn't want to get angry again.

Finn just wanted to get drunk until he didn't feel anything anymore. "I had no other choice, you know that."

"Bullshit.", Puck said, amused. "You're just crushing on Berry." Instead of answering, Finn took another sip of his glass. His throat and his stomach were burning now, but he didn't care.

"Are you serious? You're doing all that crap just because of Rachel Berry?", Mike, who was sitting next to him, asked, surprised.

"That's why he changed.", Puck mumbled, caressing Kitty's face.

"He had been kissing her ass constantly. You should've seen him at the last meeting, guys", Kitty added, looking over at Finn compassionately. "Or did you just do that to play football again?"

Finn stared at her. "How do you know that?"

"Rachel told us before the party started."

Frowning, Finn looked over to Puck. Did he just make out with her because he wanted to ask her questions about that?

"And I didn't change." His words were quiet.

"Yeah you did", Artie, who just rolled in, said. His hair was a mess. Maybe he just made out or slept with…okay, Finn definitely lost the overview of Artie's love life.

"Where did I change?", Finn asked his friends, trying to sound calm.

Puck started counting on his fingers. "Firstly, you don't come to our parties or you leave before sunrise. The old Finn Hudson never did that.  
Secondly, you voluntarily spend time with the losers of the event management team – no offence, Kitty." She flipped him the bird and got off his lap.  
"Thirdly, you give a shit about our pact."

"I didn't come here to listen to that bullshit."

Mike cocked an eyebrow. "It isn't, you know that."

"Mike is right. We wanted to enjoy our last year together and to whoop it up.", Artie added. "That was our pact. Yolo, man. Every day as long as we are together. But it seemed that you somehow lost that Finn, the troublemaker, on your way."

Finn leaned back, taking another sip, his stomach was burning, but not just because of the alcohol.

They were right.

They wanted to make the best out of their last year together in school. His bros were like a second family to him.

He didn't plan to fall for someone with whom he never had a chance of a happy end.

He could still feel Rachel's lips on his, and how sweet they tasted.

Well, that meant that he was still too sober. Rachel made him feel like he had never felt before. She gave him the feeling that everything was possible.

A wonderful, horrible lie. In reality, not everything was possible. He was not free, not like her.

Maybe that was the reason he felt drawn to her. While she took matters into her own hands, he was treated like a puppet on a string.

While she lived her life with arms wide open, he merely existed.

They didn't fit to each other.

Finn wished he would've known that before he had kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me now, guys :/
> 
> But it will get better, I promise...


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

How could Rachel talk to someone she had kissed? The only boy who had made out with her before had been Puck, and after that, they ignored each other, pretending it never happened.  
On Sunday, she spent her time staring at Finn's sweater which was still lying on her desk. She could text him or something. But she didn't know what to say. Yesterday, he and his family just disappeared from the party.

Rachel wondered how many girls he had kissed before because he was so good at it.

Rachel wondered what they would've done if his grandfather hadn't shown up.

Rachel wondered whether she would get the opportunity to kiss him like that again.

When she went to bed, she only dreamt of Finn, his dark eyes and the way he had said her name, again and again and again.

The next morning felt like her first school day. Rachel was nervous and excited when she entered the hallways of McKinley. She checked her make up and her school uniform, she had to look perfect. She shouldered the bag Finn gave to her on her birthday.

_She could do it. She had to act like she always did._

During the assembly, Finn was nowhere to be seen. His friends were sitting in the last row and when she passed them, Puck snorted quietly. Rachel frowned. What was that? She turned to him and Puck threw her a cold glance. Confused, she went to the other rows.

After chemistry, she and Finn always crossed ways because he needed to go to history. When Rachel spotted him next to Kurt on the hallway, her heart skipped a beat. Rachel prepared herself to say something.

There were only a few steps separating them. She opened her mouth to greet him and…

…he just passed her.

"Hey", she heard him say behind her. Rachel turned around, seeing how he greeted Mike. They chatted shortly and Mike laughed about something. They went together to the room in front of them without looking back.

Something inside Rachel started aching. She was still standing at the same spot in the hallway, swallowing the big lump in her throat.

When she looked up, there was no one expect of Kurt. It looked like he wanted to say something, but then, he just threw her an apologetic glance instead and disappeared in one of the rooms in front of him. Rachel on the other hand stayed on her spot, unable to move her feet.

The rest of the day, Rachel spent in a trance-like mode. She didn't listen to the words of her teachers, she just couldn't. On lunch break, she couldn't go to the cafeteria. She didn't want to see Finn and his clique. Instead, she went to the library to stare out of the window.

Rachel didn't know where she went wrong. She didn't know why Finn acted like that. She tried to tell herself that he didn't see her, but after chemistry, he also passed her, ignoring her as well.  
Mercedes noticed that something was off, especially after she didn't show up in the cafeteria, but Rachel didn't tell her about the kiss, she just couldn't anymore. Everything inside her hurt so bad.

Mercedes was forced to do the club meeting alone while Rachel was sitting on her place, staring down her notebook.

She didn't imagine that kiss.

The way Finn had said her name.

How he had looked at her.

How desperate his touches had been.

There was something between them, something big.

Even if he thought that whole thing had been a mistake, he should've told her. That would've been better than his weird behavior. The longer she sat there, staring at his empty place, the angrier she got. Was everything a lie? Did he do that so that he could play football again? Rachel looked at Mercedes, trying to stay calm.

"Would it be okay if I left now? I don't feel good." Mercedes looked at her, thoughtful, but then, she nodded slowly.

"Of course, I will take care of everything. And if you need something, you can call me." Rachel nodded thankfully and left the room without saying goodbye to the others.

Rachel rushed over to the football field where she could hear the shouting of her schoolmates.

Dumb football.

She went to the side of the field, looking for Finn's football shirt. "Hudson, your girlfriend is here", Puck shouted teasingly. Although he wore his helmet, she could hear his stupid grin.

Finn turned around, spotting Rachel. She expected that he would ignore her again, but then, he walked over to her. It was the first time he looked at her that day.

"So?", Rachel said, not even trying to hide her anger. Finn didn't say anything.

"Could you at least take off that thing?", she asked, furiously pointing at his helmet. He sighed, annoyed, but he followed orders. Now, that she could see his face, she spotted a bruise on his mouth. Looked like he got into a fight.

Rachel carefully lifted her hand, wanting to reach out for it, but Finn backed away. She dropped her hand.

"What's wrong with you?!", she shouted.

His face was emotionless when he looked at her. "What should be wrong with me?"

"You are acting like a dick, that's wrong with you." He cocked his eyebrows.

"Do I?"

"Stop acting like that and tell me why you ignore me", Rachel demanded quieter, but still insistent.

He didn't answer again, looking like that talk was boring him to death. Rachel stepped towards him.

"Did you plan that?", she asked. "Have you been nice to me all the time so that you could train again?"

He snorted, trying to laugh, but then, he looked down his feet.

"You were the one who kissed me _after_ you were allowed to return to your football team. It wouldn't have been necessary anymore.", Rachel went on.

He remained silent.

"Why are you acting like this?", she asked, hating how her voice was wavering. "Did your grandfather do anything to you?"

Finn flinched slightly. "Maybe", he answered coldly.

That hurt a lot. " _You_ kissed _me_ , not the other way around. You didn't have to do that if you felt bad about it afterwards."

Finn frowned. "You gave something to me, I liked it. End of the story."

"You liked it, end of the story?", Rachel repeated incredulously. She couldn't believe that it was the same guy who kissed her on the stairs.

Who really wanted her on Saturday.

Now, he just shrugged nonchalantly. "Gosh, Finn, what's wrong with you?", she mumbled, shaking her head.

Although she was pissed, she wondered why he had that bruise. Why did he even get into a fight?

"You should've told me that the kiss had been a mistake", she added.

"Okay, then, I will do it now.", Finn answered icily. "It had been nice, but now, it would be better if we returned to the beginning."

Rachel couldn't believe what he had just said.

"You don't need to end our friendship just because of your grandparents, Finn", she said quietly, trying to hide how hurt she was.

He tried to smile, but it looked like a grimace. "You are trying to control others, to correct their mistakes, but that doesn't work, Rachel. This whole thing has nothing to do with my friends or my family. That's me. I'm bad and miserable. Get used to it."

Her anger vanished, but now, she was just desperate. Just like at the party where she had said goodbye to Finn. But this time, it seemed ultimate.

Still trying to save that situation, she lifted her hand, caressing his cheek. "You are neither bad nor miserable."

He shook his head, laughing bitterly.

"I don't want to lose you.", Rachel whispered.

He took her hand, looking like it caused him pain to do so, and softly stroked her fingers.

"You can't lose anything that doesn't belong to you, Rachel Berry."

He put her hand away from his face. Now, he looked cold and distant.

"Hudson!", Artie shouted from the field. "You are missing your first training! Come over to us, man!"

Finn stiffened and turned back to Rachel. "Are we done now? The boys are waiting.", he said emotionlessly.

Rachel had never felt more humiliated. She had to ball her hands to not hurt him or something. "Yes, we are done.", she said as dignified as possible.

Finn didn't care about her dignity. He turned around, walking back to his friends before she could end her sentence. Her pride disappeared a little more with each step of him until she couldn't stand upright anymore.

* * *

With swollen eyes, Rachel sat at her desk at home. She stared at the note on the pin board which Finn gave to her with the bag. Suddenly furious, she ripped it off, writing the first thing which came to her mind with red permanent marker.

_Finn,  
fuck you.  
\- Rachel._

She cocked her head to the side, looking at her note. She had written those words under his and it hurt for a reason to see them together.

"Rachel? Your dads let me in, are you coming?", Mercedes suddenly asked, peeking around the corner.

Since that thing with Finn happened, Mercedes did everything to distract her from her heartache, like dragging her to shopping tours or to the movies against her will. Her dads were even supporting her.

Rachel nodded numbly. Maybe leaving her room would help her. Mercedes came over, looking at the bag in the box with the note. "I can take that to the post office on my way home", she suggested softly.

There was that lump in her throat that kept on getting bigger. "Thanks," she croaked ,and Mercedes stroked her arm softly.

She then took the box, putting it into the trunk of her car so that she didn't have to see it anymore.

After she returned from the movies, Rachel laid down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. That would be the last night where she would cry about their breakup or whatever that had been.

But after this night, the mourning period would be over.

Cause she was still Rachel Berry, the most talented singer in the world and the biggest Star to-be. She wouldn't allow that anything got into her way.

She would concentrate during classes and lead the event management club.

She would eat at the cafeteria with Mercedes.

She would prepare for her application for NYADA, and for _Harvard's School of Dramatical Arts_ as a backup plan.

She would live in the world again where Finn Hudson or the rest of McKinley didn't know her name.

* * *

Rachel was really good at avoiding him in school. It was like she knew his timetable by heart so that she could stay away from him.

When did it stop? When could Finn start thinking about other things than Rachel?

Currently, he and Kurt were about to do English-homework in his room, but he couldn't quite concentrate when he read his brother's homework.  
Kurt was lying on his king size bed, also proofreading his essay and eating low-carb chips. Finn was sitting next to him, cross-legged, staring at the card Rachel had returned to him.

"What is that?", Kurt, who had spotted the card, suddenly asked, quickly taking it away from him and reading it curiously.

He looked over to Finn with a compassionate face expression.

"Finn…" Finn snatched the card off his hands and put it into his wallet. Then, he took a random book, starting to read. The letters didn't make any sense.

Why the hell did his heart beat so fast now?

" _Finn_."

He looked up. "What?"

Kurt sat up, playing with his book in his hands. "What's the matter with this card?"

Finn shrugged. "Nothing." Kurt cocked one eyebrow, unimpressed. He looked at Finn. "What happened between you and Rachel?"

The quarterback stiffened. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Kurt snorted quietly and shook his head. "Don't pretend that thing with Rachel isn't stressing you. I have something called eyes, Finn. I can see that you are feeling miserable."

Finn knew that Kurt was right. His life was a catastrophe now, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"What stresses me", he said. "is the fact that our parents are absent when I need them, my tyrannical grandparents suck and that I hate my future."

"Rachel isn't fine either. Why…"

"I have kept an eye on Rachel _just because of you_.", Finn cut him off. "That's all." Those words felt so wrong after he had said them. He felt like he couldn't breathe anymore, and he had to blink back tears.

But why? He never cried.

"Oh Finn.", Kurt whispered, compassionately patting his shoulder.

"I know how it's like if you can't have someone although that person is the only thing that makes your life more bearable.", he suddenly said, squeezing Finn's hand.

"When Blaine and I met, I knew that there was something special between us."

Finn looked up. Kurt never had talked about Anderson and never wanted to answer the questions Finn was posing about him.

"How did you and Anderson meet? At school?", he asked.

Kurt shook his head. "It was two years ago, after that thing with Adam", he began, and Finn bristled with anger. Adam Crawford befriended Kurt back then and after a few weeks, they became boyfriends.

But in reality, Adam had been a journalist of a popular magazine. He had used Kurt and broke his heart only to get information of the family. Finn squeezed Kurt's shoulder.

"Back then, I was in the mood for…nothing. I withdrew from everything and everyone."

"Yes, I remember", Finn said quietly.

After Crawford's kiss-and-tell story, the paparazzi didn't leave the Hummel-Hudson's alone anymore. Finn remembered how he and his bros showed up at Adam's place to threaten him and how much money he needed to pay that bastard of a journalist to leave out the detail about Kurt's sexuality for damage control.

Because until today, Kurt didn't officially come out. Only Finn's bros knew about his sexuality. _And Rachel_.

Nevertheless, the harm was done because Adam revealed a lot of other secrets, and it had been a horrible time. They all needed to find a way to deal with that crap; Finn's was drinking alcohol and Kurt's was the aloofness and social distancing.

"One evening, I was just…desperate. I had nobody to talk to, I had been fifteen and lost my virginity to a journalist because I was so naïve to believe that somebody out there cared about _me_.  
Not about my family name. I was feeling miserable.  
I wondered how I could be so dumb."

Kurt paused, taking a deep breath.

"That evening, I created an anonymous profile on Tumblr. I wanted to write my thoughts without consequences.  
So I did.  
I wrote everything that came into my mind, that my life sucked and that I wished I could be someone else.  
The next day, I got a really nice answer."

Finn stared at him. "It was Anderson, right?"

He nodded. "It wasn't much, only a few, empathic words, but at that time, they meant the world to me." Kurt smiled a bit.

"After that, we started writing to each other regularly. We told each other a lot of things; even secrets we didn't want to share with other people.  
He told me about Harvard and the tiring competition pressure, I told him about my broken heart and the pressure of my family. We encouraged each other. He never told me his real name, neither did I. In spite of that, the relationship with him felt so much more real than everything else in my life."

"That sounds crazy", Finn frowned.

Kurt nodded. "I know."

"And then?"

"After six months, we had our first phone call. We were on our phones for five hours. My ear hurt the next day because I wanted to be closer to him, pressing the phone against my ear. From that day on, we talked every day on the phone."

Finn remembered the night of Rachel's birthday where they also talked for hours. He drove home from Artie's party so that he could hear her voice better.

"That's why you kicked me out of your room that often", Finn smirked. "And did you meet one day?"

"After one year, Blaine and I went to a coffee shop after he graduated from Harvard."

Incredible how Finn didn't notice all that.

"And…when did you get together?", Finn asked curiously.

Kurt blushed. "We never had been really together, but during our summer holidays, we spent a lot of time together."

He cleared his throat. "After Blaine got the job at McKinley, he kind of broke up immediately. He said we could stay online friends, but that's all."

He had to blink back tears. "It was better for me like that, you know. Better than losing him completely. After the chances he would get the job had been slim, my hopes were raised. We met again, until he got the job after all. Again, I was heartbroken, but this time, he wanted to erase me completely from his life. He said it would be better for all of us."

"And what was that thing at the beginning of the schoolyear?", Finn wanted to know.

Kurt gulped. "A relapse."

Finn nodded. He knew that Anderson was more to Kurt than just an amusement. But he never knew they had a two-year lasting relationship. A serious one.

"Maybe after one year, you could…" Finn didn't know why he suggested that. Even after Kurt graduated from McKinley, a relationship with one of his ex-teachers would ruin his reputation permanently.

On top of that, Kurt didn't even come out to their parents or grandparents. Grandfather would flip out when he found out that Kurt was in love with a male teacher.

"I'm not stupid, Finn. I know that Blaine and I don't stand a chance." Kurt sighed, biting into a chip.

It somehow hurt Finn to see him like that. And it hurt even more to know he couldn't help him. There was no future for Kurt and Mr. Anderson, or for him and Rachel.

He and his brother really got the short end of the stick concerning love.

"Thanks you told me about that, dude", Finn said. Kurt just nodded. "Maybe you will tell me about Rachel one day."

Ignoring his brother's glance, Finn took the book in front of him. "There is nothing to tell."

Kurt sighed. "If you say so…", he mumbled, looking at him knowingly.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my poor babies :(
> 
> They may be rich as f*** but they aren't happy...


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Rachel yawned after she got up the next morning. Suddenly, her door of her room burst open and her dads entered. "Rachel, darling! You got letters from both, NYADA and Harvard!", LeRoy said excitedly. He was holding the Harvard letter, Hiram the NYADA letter. Rachel looked back and forth between her dads with eyes wide open. She had sent the application essays weeks ago. She hoped they had been good enough.

"Which one will you open first, darling?", LeRoy asked.

"Both at once", Rachel decided. Her dads handed her the letters and she quickly tore open the envelopes.

She skimmed the letters; her dads were waiting excitedly. "And? What did they say?", Hiram asked.

Rachel just stared at them. "I'm invited to the interviews and auditions at NYADA _AND_ Harvard!", she screamed excitedly.

Her dads pulled her into a hug at once. "That's great, darling!", LeRoy beamed. "You will rock the interviews and the auditions!", Hiram added.

Rachel quickly reread the letter of NYADA. "But the interview and audition of NYADA is gonna take place at their partner university Harvard as well, there are renovations at NYADA.", she frowned.

Her dads shrugged. "That's great, that means less stress for you.", Hiram told her. LeRoy read the rest of the letter.

"You will arrive at Sunday evening at Harvard, on Monday, there are the auditions, on Tuesday, the Interviews. On Wednesday in the morning, you are going to depart. The accommodation and meals are for free", he read out loud.

Rachel screeched excitedly, jumping up and down in her bed. She was one step closer to her dream. She shooed her parents out, deciding to call Mercedes and ask her whether she made it. And then, they were going to pick an outfit for Harvard and NYADA. She still couldn't quite believe it.

She would be at one of her dream universities in less than five days!

* * *

It was dark when Rachel and her dads arrived at Harvard on Sunday. They walked past the Harvard Art Museums, which unfortunately was already closed. Since it was too cold for them outside, they quickly entered the building where Rachel was going to sleep.

"Next year, this is going to be your accommodation. Or the one at NYADA", LeRoy whispered proudly.

"I hope so", Rachel answered. "I can't believe I'm really here", she said. "I'm so lucky."

Hiram clicked his tongue. "You're not lucky. You worked really hard to make it." Her dad was right. But she felt a bit nervous when she thought about the interviews and the auditions.

She had rehearsed "Don't Rain on My Parade" by Barbra Streisand ad nauseam.

She had worked out possible interview questions.

She took a lot of notes during Tia's courses.

She hoped all that would help her to succeed.

After she took her key from the reception and said goodbye to her dads, she went to her room upstairs. She wanted to retrieve the keys when someone else entered the hallway.

Another one who was here because of the interview?

Smiling, she turned around.

And froze.

_Oh crap._

"You got to be kidding me", Rachel groaned. Finn also seemed to be surprised. He narrowed his eyes and looked at her keys. He went to a door, which was on the opposite of Rachel's and unlocked it.

Why did god do that to her?

Without a word, he entered and closed the door behind him.

Rachel took a deep breath. No, she wouldn't allow to get distracted by Finn Hudson. She had worked so hard for that. Determined, she entered her room.

There was only a bed, a small closet and a desk. From her window, she could see the campus. She would be there or at NYADA next year, that was for sure.

She would make it, and nothing could stop her.

When Rachel woke up the next morning, she had to remind herself: You're at Harvard. She quickly propped herself up in the bed, checking her phone for new texts. Her dads were reminding her to eat a proper breakfast, Ryder wished her luck and Mercedes texted her the photo of her room at Harvard.

Unfortunately, they weren't at the same building because Mercedes was at _Harvard's School of Music_ which was on the other side of the campus.

Rachel wished her good luck, writing that she couldn't wait to tell her about her auditions when they would meet in the local pub of the university in the evening.

Then, she quickly put on some make up, put her clothes on and left her room to eat her breakfast at the community room. She was beyond excited.

After breakfast, everyone nervously waited for their auditions. Next to her, Rachel spotted a familiar face.

Oh, hell to the no, to put it with Mercedes' words.

"Rachel Berry?", one of the students suddenly said. She lifted her head. The guy who had said that was tall, redheaded and had green eyes.

"Here.", she croaked, getting up from the sofa. When she passed Finn, she craned her chin. But then, he clutched her wrist.

"Good luck", he whispered. Then, he let go of her, walking away.

Rachel needed a few minutes to compose herself. She straightened up and went over to the guy. He smiled softly. "Hi. I'm Sheldon Dove and I'm going to take you to the auditions of NYADA and Harvard. You're lucky, they are both at the same time.", he winked.

Rachel left the community room without turning around. In a few minutes, she would stand on the stage of Harvard. Those minutes would decide whether she would succeed or fail.

And Finn wouldn't distract her.

* * *

Despite her nervousness, Rachel totally slayed her audition.

The professors of both, NYADA and Harvard, looked impressed, praising her song choice. "It was great", Rachel gushed when she was on her way with Sheldon to the pub. "And it was not as bad as I thought."

Sheldon laughed. "It was the same with me when I auditioned for NYADA. Afterwards, you are wondering why you were even nervous."

He opened the door of the bar, letting Rachel enter first. The bar was full of students, almost all places were occupied.

Sheldon went over to the other applicants and Rachel groaned inwardly. There, on the table next to them, was Finn's clique. Finn somehow had convinced the people at Harvard that some of the juniors could also come watch the Interviews of the seniors.

She gulped. Finn, having noticed her, looked at her for a while, but then, he turned back to Artie next to him, pretending nothing happened.

Why was she so surprised to see him and his clique here? The bar was a fixed part of the program for all applicants.

"Rachel!"

She turned around. Mercedes was heading to her direction, pulling her into a hug.

"Tell me EVERY detail!", she demanded. "You need to sit down first", Sheldon next to them laughed.

The three of them occupied a table. "First things first: How did it go?", Mercedes asked excitedly.

"Great!", Rachel gushed, telling them about the performance.

"That sounds good! But I have no idea how my audition went. The professors all had pokerfaces. I really couldn't tell whether they liked it", Mercedes frowned.

"But that doesn't mean anything", Sheldon commented. "When I auditioned, there was this professor with that monobrow. It was kind of creepy and I was intimidated."

The trio laughed. The waitress came over, taking their orders. Sheldon told them that the beer at this bar was to die for, so the three of them ordered beer (Sheldon wanted to show her his ID, but the waitress didn't care), and some finger food.

It was the first time Rachel drank something, but this time, she did it voluntarily, not because Puck made her drink it. It felt so grown up to do something forbidden.

Rachel took a sip and scrunched up her nose in distaste. "That tastes _disgusting_!", she said.

Sheldon and Mercedes were laughing loudly. "Why are you drinking that voluntarily?", she asked them.

"Is it your first beer?", Sheldon asked.

Rachel nodded. "And definitely my last."

"That's what you say now", Sheldon winked, and Mercedes nodded. "That's like with coffee. As I child, you hate it, but when you grow up, you like it.", Mercedes laughed.

Rachel cocked her eyebrows, but then, she pushed the glass to the middle of the table. "Here, take it. I'm going to order a coke."

She got up, heading to the bar and ordering her drink. After ten minutes, a waiter finally handed her a glass of coca cola. When she wanted to return to her seat, she saw how Kurt was leaving the pub, but his belongings stayed at his seat place. Maybe he drank too much.

Shaking her head, Rachel returned to her table where Mercedes was laughing about something Sheldon said. Sam was looking at them, and Rachel could see something like…jealousy in his eyes.

Well, interesting.

Carefully, Rachel looked at the rest of Finn's clique. While Sam continued staring at Mercedes, Finn, Puck and Mike were talking about something, Brittany was sitting on Artie's lap, whispering something into his ear and both of them laughed. Next to them, Santana downed her drink all at once. Her glance was bitter. She answered the questions Quinn was posing but couldn't look away from Brittany and Artie. Rachel frowned. Why did Brittany do that? Wasn't there something between her and Santana?

Nobody of the clique seemed to notice Kurt's absence. Rachel waited a bit, but then, she excused herself and got up.

She went outside, but there was no Kurt far and wide. Maybe he returned to his accommodation. When she was about to go back inside, she heard someone sobbing. Someone was sitting on the stairs on the back of the pub.

Carefully, Rachel approached the silhouette. "Kurt?", she asked carefully.

"Leave me alone", he sniffed. Rachel remembered when he came over to the cafeteria back then to apologize. He had been so nice to her. Now was the chance to return the favor.

"Can I do something for you?", Rachel asked quietly. It was really dark out there and they couldn't see each other's faces, but Kurt was still sobbing.

"Are you nervous because of the Interviews tomorrow?" Now, Kurt was looking at her. His face was a mixture of amused and sad, she could see that.

"I'm not excited. I had both of my Interviews today. They went great."

"But that's good, right?", Rachel said carefully. But he didn't look that happy. His blue eyes were shimmering with new tears, and he quickly wiped them away, taking a sip from the bottle of Scotch next to him.

"Why aren't you happy?"

"It doesn't matter how my interviews went. Maybe I won't even study there."

"Why not? Don't you want to attend Harvard?"

Kurt gulped. "Yes, I want to."

"And what's the problem? If the interviews went great, you will make it"

"I don't mean it like that. I just think that…I can't study here."

Rachel didn't get it. "Why?", she asked, confused. Kurt sighed deeply.

"Before Finn and I went to Harvard, our grandparents were telling us the opinion of gay people. Grandfather said he would make sure his gay descendants would be disinherited. And…and I didn't come out to them yet."

"And your parents? They have a say in that whole thing, right?", Rachel asked carefully.

Kurt laughed bitterly. "Firstly, they are never around. Secondly, everything belongs to grandfather, my parents would be powerless. He could destroy their lives as well, you have no idea how ruthless he can be", he sobbed.

"And…can't you keep it to yourself until you studied?"

Kurt shook his head. "I tried for years, but I can't do it anymore.  
That secret is killing me from inside.  
I don't know how long I can do this without getting seriously sick. And if that happens, I can forget Harvard as well cause grandfather would make sure I'm gonna end up in a nuthouse, like one of our aunts.  
There is no happy ending in both scenarios."

He blew his nose, taking another sip from the bottle. Rachel wondered whether it ran in the family to drown their sorrow in alcohol.

"I don't know what to say", she said quietly. "Why did you tell me that?"

"Because Finn trusts you. And he trusts no one else."

Rachel gritted her teeth. What did that mean for her and Finn?

"You can talk to me, if you want to. Anytime, even if you don't have anyone to talk to anymore."

Skeptical, Kurt looked up. "Why should I?" Carefully, Rachel stroke his arm. "I have two gay dads myself, remember? And I know what's like to be lonely."

She took the bottle of Scotch and dumped the rest of its content into the lawn.

Kurt looked up. "Hey!", he protested.

Rachel shrugged. "Sorry, but alcohol doesn't solve problems, Mister. But I can accompany you to your room."

Kurt hesitated, but then, he nodded and got up. "I don't know why I did it. Normally, I'm not that much of a drinker", he said.

Rachel just cocked her eyebrows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The interviews and ... nice try, I won't spoil :P :P
> 
> There are only two chapers left & there will most likely be a part two of HSS...
> 
> Fun Fact: In the novel, the counterpart of Kurt (Lydia) gets pregnant from her teacher Mr. Sutton (Blaine).
> 
> Well...
> 
> I changed that to homophobia, that will lead to conflicts as well... I generally had to change a lot of things from the original or else Puck and Artie would be gay, there would be no Brittana storyline etc.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Penultimate chapter, guys! Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The Interviews went without a hitch as well, although Rachel had been awake at night, thinking about Kurt's situation. She was relieved when they were finally over.

Later that day, the applicants were gathered in the group room where there was a Q&A with some students.

"You can ask us anything", Ruby, a student of Harvard, said. "Studies, private life, ambitions."

"Really anything?", a guy who was sitting next to Rachel, said. "You can ask us anything, but what we answer and what not is our choice", Sheldon smirked, and some people laughed.

A girl lifted her hand. "How hard is studying? Do you even have a private life?", she asked.

"Of course it's harder here and at NYADA than at other universities, but after you got used to it, you will see that you still have time for private activities.", Sheldon answered.

There was some mumbling and some applicants sighed, relieved.

"Next question, guys!", he ordered.

Nobody said anything. Until…

"Is it true what everyone says? That Harvard isn't as great as everyone thinks?"

Rachel turned to Finn. What the hell?

"I don't know. I mean I don't have studied at other universities to judge it.", Ruby answered hesitantly.

"A simple 'Yes' would have been enough."

Stunned, Rachel looked at Finn. She couldn't believe that he had said that. With that arrogant tone. For a reason, she was getting furious, more furious than ever before.

_Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it…_

"Of course", she suddenly snapped.

Finn turned around. "What?"

"Of course Harvard is not good enough for you because your grandparents said it." She tried to sound calm, but she failed. After Finn acted like that, she was quite unsuccessful to keep a clear head.

She could see something like hurt in Finn's eyes. "That's not true,", he mumbled.

Suddenly, Rachel couldn't hold herself back anymore. "What's not true? That Harvard is not good enough for you and neither am I because your grandparents told you so? That you always do what they want instead of thinking about what _you_ want? You're such a coward!"

Everyone went silent. Rachel could feel a burning feeling in her eyes.

No.

Oh no.

She wouldn't start crying in front of all the others and embarrass herself even more. Quickly, she got up and left the room. She ran down the hallway to the stairs, but then, Finn took her by the wrist, forcing her to turn around.

"That's not true", he repeated breathlessly. His cheeks were reddened, his hair ruffled. Everytime she saw him, she wanted to reach out for him so bad, no matter how mad she was.

That couldn't be.

Why did she still want him, after everything he had done?

"What is not true?", Rachel croaked. She didn't expect the pain in his eyes.

"That you are not good enough for me." She stared at him, perplexed. But then, she balled her fists, angry. "That's nonsense.", she hissed.

"Rachel…"

"No!", she cut him off. "You can't do that. You can't break up and humiliate me in front of your friends just to stroke my hand and wish me good luck! You have showed me you didn't want me in your _soo perfect life_."

"That wasn't…me…"

First, he ran after her, now, he couldn't even say a complete sentence.

"It wasn't you?", she scoffed.

"I'm sorry about my behavior. I'm so, so sorry, Rachel. But I just…can't. It's not possible."

Rachel threw her arms up. "And why are you even here?"

"Because I…" Again, he stopped talking. Then, he opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

"You don't know what you what from me. You don't know what you want in your life, I think you don't know anything.", Rachel spat.

His cheeks became redder. He also balled his fists, then he ruffled his hair frustratedly.

"I know exactly what I want.", he said, suddenly determined.

"Why don't you just take it?"

"Because what I want never mattered."

Rachel's eyes widened. "Not to me! To me, it _always_ mattered what you wanted!", she yelled, pushing Finn with her hands.

Finn quickly grabbed her wrists, keeping her hands on his chest. They needed to breathe fast.

Then, everything just kind of happened. Finn pulled her closer to himself, Rachel leapt at him.

Their mouths met. Finn grabbed Rachel's thigh, burying his nails into her skirt. She grabbed his neck and bit into his lip because she was angry. He moaned into her lips.

All the weeks where he tried to ignore him suddenly came tumbling down to her. Rachel moaned desperately, it almost sounded like a sob. She enjoyed how his lips tasted.

Suddenly, the kiss felt like an apology. Rachel could feel how long Finn wanted to do that and how much force he needed to let it be. Finn kissed her like he wanted to drown inside her, there were so many emotions: despair, longing, hate, desire and everything in between.

It drove Rachel crazy, but at the same time, she had never felt more alive. She didn't know how that was possible.

Finn grabbed her by the waist, lifted her and stumbled down the hallway until they were at his room. Rachel continued sucking on his lips like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, he unlocked his door. Finn carried her over the threshold and slammed the door. This time, nobody would disturb them.

Now, they were on his bed, and Finn continued kissing her _everywhere._

"Rachel…" He whispered her name like back then on the stairs. Because of the memories of that evening, she felt hurt again. Tears were running down her cheek and Finn froze. Softly, he caressed her cheek whispering her name, again and again.

"I'm sorry", he whispered, kissing her temple. He didn't stop kissing her face.

"That's not enough", Rachel whispered back. Finn kissed her ear. "Yes, for me neither."

"Things can't continue like that, Finn." Suddenly, he smiled and visibly relaxed. His face expression softened.

"Why are you smiling?", Rachel asked, confused.

His glance was hopeful. "It's been a long time since you said my name. Feels good."

Shaking her head, Rachel took his face, kissing him softly. It felt like a dream, his mouth had the perfect form for hers.

"On the football field back then…I told you that you couldn't lose something that didn't belong to you.", Finn whispered.

The memories about it hurt a bit. Nevertheless, she forced herself to look at Finn.

"That was a lie. I have been yours since you threw the money on my head, Rachel Berry."

* * *

Rachel's eyes widened when Finn said those words. "I told you that I will work in the firm of my parents after I graduated. And…my grandparents want me to marry a woman soon. They would engage me right now so that nothing could go wrong."

Rachel wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"You have been special to me from the beginning on. I have changed. I didn't notice but my friends and my family did. After grandfather had seen us on Halloween…" He gulped. "…, he was sure."

"Was that the reason for your bruise on the face? Did he beat you?", Rachel asked carefully.

"Yes", Finn answered quietly. He had never talked about grandfather with someone. Not even with Kurt. He was sure his friends grew suspicious when he came over to them with a blue eye or another bruise, but nobody ever talked about it. Luckily for him.

"Does he beat you often, Finn?", Rachel whispered. He couldn't answer when she was looking at him so compassionately.

"That's not important", he answered a little bit late. "Anyway, they thought you were dangerous. That you are more important to me than our firms."

After Finn had said these words, realization dawned on him.

His grandparents were right.

He was in love with Rachel Barbra Berry.

Kurt once asked him whether she was worth all the trouble. Finn listened to his family and friends, which had been the dumbest decision he had ever taken, and he hated himself he had left Rachel.

"And you are right, I don't know what I want. My life is predestined, I feel like a character in a script which had been written for me and I'm not allowed to change anything."

Rachel grumbled quietly.

"After grandfather saw us, he flipped out. He doesn't want me to spend time with someone he doesn't approve of." Rachel just looked at him, saying nothing.

"You are going to be the biggest star the world has ever seen. You have to find someone whose family approves of you. But that's impossible with my family. I can't offer you anything but a lot of problems I don't know how to solve."

Finn expected that Rachel would get up and leave. He knew he deserved it. But she didn't move. Instead, she kissed his temple.

"Oh Finn.", she mumbled, kissing him across the jawline.

"You are so silly."

Well, he didn't see that one coming.

"Why are you thinking about the future if we have the present? And why didn't you tell me sooner?", she pouted.

"I'm so sorry, Rachel. I thought we would be better off without each other."

"But it didn't feel better. You turned me down in the worst way."

"I know. Gosh, Rachel, I'm really sorry." He didn't know what he would do if she didn't forgive him. If she left him because of the stress. If he couldn't be that close to her anymore.

"Finn", Rachel mumbled, kissing him on his cheek. "It's okay, I forgive you."

After he had realized what she had just said, he pulled her closer to himself. "I won't disappoint you again, I promise…", he murmured, kissing her passionately.

With that kiss, he wanted to show her how sorry he was, share all of his emotions with her.

After a while, Rachel started undoing his buttons. "What are you doing?", he asked her.

"Undress you. That's what couples do if they reconcile, right?"

"We are a couple?", Finn asked hesitantly.

"Of course we are, silly! Do you want to do it or not?", Rachel asked, amused.

Finn wanted her. He wanted her so bad, more than he ever wanted something. "Yes, yes I want to do it", he panted.

Screw his grandparents. Rachel was right, they had the present. And they would enjoy it.

* * *

Here she was lying.

Next to Finn Hudson to whom she had just lost her virginity.

In a residential at Harvard. Gosh, she loved her life.

"You are crazy, Rachel Berry.", Finn laughed quietly. Rachel looked at him.

"Did I just say that out loud?", she wondered. Finn nodded, smirking. "How was your first time?", she asked, caressing his abs.

"It was okay. I was fourteen, really drunk and I messed it up."

"Fourteen?!", Rachel gasped. Then he must have a lot of experience. She didn't want to know with how many girls he had already slept.

"Puck and I betted, and I just did it. It only took two minutes and it didn't feel nice."

Rachel grimaced. "But this time was perfect, right?", she said softly, kissing his chest.

Finn nodded. "Yes, yes it was."

Both of them didn't say anything for a while, just enjoying each other's company.

"Change of topic: How did your interviews go?", Rachel asked, sitting up and leaning against his chest. Finn went silent.

Rachel turned to him. "Talk to me. Did something go wrong?"

Finn shook his head. "No offence, but I think Harvard and all that sucks."

Rachel took a deep breath. Not everyone had the same dreams and ambitions, she needed to respect that.

"When the interviews took place, I felt so...numb and uninvolved. It just felt so wrong", Finn admitted.

"If you don't want to study at Harvard, what do you want?"

Finn shrugged helplessly. "Please don't ask me that question. You were right when you said I didn't know anything. If I allow myself to dream I will be more depressed afterwards."

Rachel thought for a while, then, she got up, putting on her underwear and Finn's grey shirt, and searching for something. Finally, she found Finn's notebook and ripped out a paper.

"What are you doing?", Finn asked her, frowning. In the meantime, he had put on his boxers.

"We are making a list", Rachel answered, snuggling against Finn on the bed.

Finn threw her a questioning glance.

"When I'm down, I make lists. It always helped me keep a clear head and stay motivated, even if everything sucked."

"You want to make a list for me?", Finn asked, amused. Rachel nodded eagerly. "Maybe I will motivate you."

"What do you want to do in your life? You always said you love journeys."

Finn thought for a while. "Yes. Maybe to...Thailand? I love their culture."

"Great.", Rachel said, writing it down.

_1\. Trip to Thailand_

"Next? It could be anything."

"I want to continue playing football.", Finn admitted quietly.

"Sounds good.", Rachel mumbled, drawing a football which was not that good. But at least, Finn was smiling again.

_2\. Football_

"I...I want to make music", Finn thought out loud. "I used to play the drums, but then, I stopped because I never had time."

Rachel lifted her head. "I didn't know that. Maybe we could make music together sometime.", she said excitedly.

Finn grinned. "Absolutely." Rachel wrote it down.

_3\. Make Music_

"And what else?"

Finn gulped. "I want to find my own way concering my future job. I want to find out what _I_ want to do. I don't know whether it is possible, but..."

Rachel caressed his cheek and leaned forward to kiss him softly. "Everything is possible, Finn.", she whispered and wrote it down.

_4\. Find a Fulfilling Job_

"Oh, that thing is important.", Finn said, taking Rachel's pen and writing something down.

_5\. Rachel_

Rachel's eyes widened and she looked back and forth between Finn and the list.

"If you are by my side, I have the feeling I can succeed in anything", Finn whispered. "You make me happy, Rachel Berry."

Rachel didn't know what to say. So, she just leaned over to him, kissing him, again and again.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You didn't see it coming, right? From angry shoutings to Finchel fluff. lol
> 
> Btw: The student called Ruby is a reference to Ruby Bell, the counterpart of Rachel in the original
> 
> Stay tuned for the final of High (School) Society...


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 500 views! Thank you very much for reading this shit *_*
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Unfortunately, the best night in his life had to end eventually. Rachel and Finn tried to stay awake the whole night, but after some time, they finally fell asleep. They only slept three hours because they were scared they overslept, and Rachel's dads would wait outside. Luckily, they didn't.

It was hard for Finn to let Rachel return to her own room. He didn't want to say goodbye, always pulling her closer to him and kissing her as if he wouldn't see her again for a month. But they would see each other soon, on Monday at school or even sooner.

Later, Andy picked them up, but he acted off. But Finn didn't notice. When he was in the limousine, he wore the grey shirt Rachel wore all night, and it still smelled like her. He wanted to repeat what they had done. Immediately.

When Kurt got into the limousine, he noticed that something had changed. He looked at Finn with narrowed eyes. Then, he started grinning knowingly.

"Looks like someone had a good night." Kurt knew him too well. Or maybe he could read his goofy grin.

Finn took the _Fuck-You_ card he had already ripped apart in his room from his wallet, replacing it with the list Rachel had done with him when they couldn't sleep.

"Do I get details?", Kurt asked, interested.

"Since when are you interested in my love life?", Finn asked skeptically. Kurt shrugged.

"Since Rachel is the one you are making love with."

Finn cocked his head to the side. "Firstly, who says the Rachel is the one I made out with? Secondly, I thought you couldn't stand her."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Firstly, I'm not stupid. And secondly, if you like her, I like her too. Easy as that."

"Good. I think you will see her more often."

Kurt's eyes widened. "You are in a serious relationship with her?"

Finn had to smile, but Kurt smacked his upper arm. "I can't believe it! Finn!"

"What?"

"Grandfather is going to kill you if he ever finds out.", he said, shaking his head. "But you look really happy.", he said, squeezing his arm.

Finn also felt happy. He was in love. With Rachel Berry.

"What's wrong with Andy?", Kurt suddenly asked. Finn shrugged. "No idea."

"He didn't even ask how our interviews went.", Kurt remarked.

"You can tell me.", Finn offered, but Kurt just wrinkled his nose.

"You're weird when you are in love."

The rest of the time, they spent saying nothing. Kurt looked at his phone, Finn stared out of the window, thinking about last night.

After they arrived, Andy shooed them inside the mansion. "What's up with Andy?", Kurt whispered confused.

"No idea.", Finn shrugged.

Grandfather was standing in front of the fireplace of the parlor. "Grandfather?", Finn asked carefully. He turned around and his face was emotionless, but there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Sit down." He pointed at their sofa. Finn didn't want to sit down, he wanted to know what was going on.

Kurt sat down while Finn kept staring at grandfather.

"Sit down, Finn." It was an order now. But he was unable to move. Something happened, he could feel it.

"Where is grandmother?", Kurt wanted to know, trying to sound joyful to lighten up the mood.

For a while, James didn't say anything.

"Your grandmother had a stroke.", their grandfather finally said emotionlessly.

"That's…what…how... do you mean that?", Kurt stammered.

"Elaine had a stroke.", he repeated monotonously. "She is dead."

Kurt paled instantly, then, he started sobbing. Finn couldn't feel himself anymore. Grandfather continued talking, but he didn't quite hear it.

_…Came too late…hospital…dead._

Finn could only hear a few words and Kurt's sobs. And someone panting. He realized that he was the one doing it.

He tried to press his hand on his chest to even out his breathing. He was breathing fast, but he had a feeling he would suffocate.

Grandmother was _dead_.

 _She was dead_.

James kept a straight face. Maybe it was just a bad joke.

"When?", Finn croaked. His head was spinning, he needed to hold on to something. "On Monday.", grandfather answered.

Finn's poor heart. It was about to explode or to stop beating. He realized what grandfather had just said.

Monday.

Today was Wednesday.

"So let me get this straight", Finn said, his voice was wavering. "Grandmother had a stroke two days ago, and you are telling us _now_?"

Why did he even pose that question? Why didn't he go over to his brother so that they could cry together? Why didn't he just let it be?

"I didn't want you to mess up the Interviews.", James answered.

Finn couldn't explain what happened next. Something inside him just snapped. In the next moment, Finn leapt at his grandfather, punching him right in the face.

It was a strong punch and James' chair tipped over, Finn and James fell down.

Kurt yelped. Something fell down, breaking into shards.

Again, Finn punched him. His hand started burning, but he didn't stop.

"Finn, stop it!", Kurt shouted, dragging him away from his grandfather. Finn tried to break free, but Andy and Kurt held him tight.

James was on the floor; blood was on his nose and his mouth. "Take him away from me until he calmed down", he instructed coldly.

Kurt rushed over to his grandfather, helping him up. Andy dragged Finn to the hallway and out of the building. Outside, he let go of him. Finn wanted to go back inside.

"Mr. Hudson stop it!", Andy said, but Finn didn't listen. Andy grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Get out of my way, Andy."

"No." Andy didn't let go.

"He didn't tell us. You didn't tell us.", Finn sobbed, pushing him. "My grandmother died and you didn't tell us." He could feel his tears welling up. It hurt so much. He needed to make it stop somehow. In the next moment, he turned on his heel, running to the garage.

"Mr. Hudson!"

Finn ignored him. He took the keys he just snatched from Andy and opened the door. He started the car. Andy stepped in front of it, but he didn't care.  
He started driving and Andy jumped out of the way.  
With squealing tires, Finn drove away, wiping away the tears with the back of his hand.

* * *

The doorbell rang. "Who is that?", LeRoy wondered while they were playing UNO. Rachel went to the entrance door and opened it. Her eyes widened.

"Kurt?"

He looked devastated. His eyes were swollen and red, he was as pale as a ghost. Rachel wanted to step forwards, but Kurt lifted his hand.

"Is Finn here?", he immediately asked. Rachel shook her head. "No. What happened?", she asked, alarmed.

Kurt didn't seem to listen to her. He retrieved his phone, dialing a phone number. "Sam? It's me", he said. "Is Finn at yours?" Kurt started smiling faintly, relieved. "Thank god."

Rachel could hear Sam's voice, but she didn't hear what he said. But suddenly, Kurt's face expression darkened. "Okay. I will be there. See you."

After he hung up, he wanted to turn around and run back to the limousine to Andy. He also looked concerned. Something had to be very wrong.

"Kurt, please tell me what the hell happened", Rachel repeated. He stopped in his tracks. "I can't."

"But I will come with you.", she quickly said. Kurt opened and closed his mouth. "I don't think this is a good idea."

Nevertheless, Rachel quickly took her purse and her coat and followed Kurt to the Rolls-Royce. He looked like he wanted to talk her out of it, but he was too upset to do so.

When they sat in the limousine, Rachel whispered: "You know, you can still talk to me if you want to. Anytime."

Kurt flinched as if Rachel just yelled at him. He blinked back some tears, and again, she wondered what the hell had happened.

"Will you tell me now what happened?", she asked softly.

"Let's say there was a fight at home", Kurt answered.

Rachel shuddered. "Is Finn okay, Kurt?", she asked anxiously.

Kurt just shrugged helplessly. "Sam said yes."

The rest of the drive, Rachel tried not to freak out. What did that mean? Kurt avoided her glance, every now and then wiping away some tears.

After they arrived at Sam's, Kurt jumped out of the car and headed to the entrance. Sam was already standing on the doorway. When he saw Kurt approaching, he started smiling widely.

"Look who decided to join our awesome Harvard party." He gave Kurt a bro hug who just let it happen like a lifeless doll. Then, Sam spotted Rachel.

"And you even brought a plus-one with you. I know you swing the other way, dude, but is there something going on between the two of you?", he asked teasingly.

Kurt ignored him completely and went past him into the house. Rachel wondered whether Sam knew what happened or whether he was as oblivious as she was.

She and Sam followed Kurt to the parlor, but this time, there were not that many people like last time. Some people were dancing with their underwear in the middle of the room.

Santana was sitting on an armchair, passionately making out with Puck, Brittany was sitting on the other sofa, looking at their direction with a pained face expression while Artie was talking to her.

And then, Rachel spotted Finn. He was sitting on another armchair, his hair was tousled, his face was pale. He looked devastated. She was about to go over to him when he lifted a bottle of Vodka and downed its content all at one.

What the…?

A familiar blonde was leaving the pool and walked over to him. She motioned him to come over. Finn cocked his head to the side, but then, he followed orders. The blonde started undoing his buttons. When Rachel looked closer, she recognized her. It was Quinn Fabray.

She froze. "Since when is he acting like that?", Kurt asked Sam.

"Since this afternoon. He didn't stop drinking."

Kurt cursed under his breath, something he didn't that often. The boys were still talking, but Rachel couldn't listen to them.

Quinn Fabray just put off Finn's shirt. Now, she wanted to open the zipper of his jeans.

That was the final straw.

Rachel's anger was bigger than her fear of water. She stomped over to the duo.

"What the hell are you doing?!", she hissed.

Finn turned around, glassy-eyed.

He looked horrible. He was pale, his eyes were red, his pupils dilated.

This wasn't her Finn.  
This was the same guy who paid people off, who partied every weekend with his friends and humped girl after girl.  
The guy who didn't feel anything and who didn't care about anything.

"Finn", Rachel whispered and took his hand. His skin was ice cold. Finn took a deep breath.

"You shouldn't be here, Rachel."

"But I…" Before she could end her sentence, Finn turned around and jumped into the pool. Rachel backed away.

Quinn, Mike and some other people in their underwear followed Finn into the pool, cheering.

All this felt so wrong. She would like to talk to Finn, but firstly, she was scared of water, and secondly, Finn wouldn't listen anyway. He seemed so…numb and uninvolved. Quinn was swimming to Finn's direction, smiling seductively.

Rachel gaped. She could see how Quinn snuggled against Finn. How she kissed him. Finn didn't do anything about it.

This had to be a nightmare, right? Something inside Rachel shattered into pieces. Sam next to her patted her shoulder, completely oblivious to her shock.

"Well, that's the Finn Hudson I know", he said, grinning goofily.

 _But that's not the Finn Hudson I know_ , Rachel wanted to say.

_You have no idea how he really is._

_He is my boyfriend, asshole._

But that wasn't true.

If Finn had been her boyfriend, he wouldn't have just kissed Quinn Fabray. He would've come to her instead of drowning his sorrow in alcohol and hanging out with his superficial friends.

Rachel turned on her heel and ran inside. She crossed the entrance hall. She had to get out, she couldn't stay any longer.

"Rachel!", Kurt shouted. Rachel turned around, realizing how desperate he looked. Now, she had a bad conscience.

"I'm sorry your family situation sucks, Kurt.", Rachel whispered with a wavering voice. "But I can't do that. Not after…"

After what? After they had made love? After she thought things were alright again? She couldn't tell him.

"He really needs you now", Kurt pleaded.

Rachel laughed bitterly. Then, she turned around and left the hall. Kurt was shouting after her, but Rachel didn't hear him anymore. She left and slammed the door behind her.

For a while, she thought that Finn and she could be together if both of them really wanted to. But know, Rachel realized something:

She would never be part of his world.

Unfortunately, she realized it now that it was too late.

_To be continued..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the ending, guys, but the original also ended like that. In the novel, James (Finn's counterpart) also did drugs in the end, but I didn't want to cross that line especially because of the way Cory died...
> 
> I'm already working on part two, so don't worry. It will be called "High (School) Society II"
> 
> It will take some time until I upload the first chapter, though.
> 
> See you next time, guys!
> 
> XOXO your princess


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